Recently, the media was awash with the news of a judgement of a Federal High Court in Lagos, which nullified the collection of Practitioners Operatings Fees (POF) by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN).
The landmark judgement was the highpoint of a suit filed sometime in 2018, by the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) headed by Mr Lucky Eyis Amiwero. The suit came about one year after the Federal Government created the POF as a way of boosting the revenue base for the then cash-strapped CRFFN.
In the suit No. FHC/CS/765/2018, filed before Justice D.E Osiagor of the Lagos High Court, the Council of Managing Directors specifically challenged the right of CRFFN to superintend activities of licensed customs agents. It insisted that licensed customs agents are bound by Customs and Excise Management Act and not by CRFFN Act.
Diving further into the age-long licensed customs agents-freight forwarders dichotomy, the Council of Managing Directors argued that: “A declaration that Licensed Customs Agents and the Business of Licensed Customs Agents and Freight Forwarders and the Business of freight Forwarding are functionally and operationally different bodies and business under the control, regulation and supervision of different and separate Government Ministries and parastatal”.
On the strength of the above, the Council sought the Court to declare that the CRFFN has no legal status to make any demand of customs licensed agents. The demand, in this case is the collection of Practitioners Operating Fees.
Expectedly, the Registrar of the CRFFN; Mr Kingsley Igwe has responded in defence of the Council. He claimed that the CRFFN had no inkling about the case and the court verdict.
Speaking during a press briefing on Tuesday in Lagos, the Registrar of CRFFN, Barr. Kingsley Igwe, expressed deep concern over what he termed the “secretive manner” in which the judgement was delivered, noting that the process reportedly occurred without due notice to the defendants named in the suit. He stressed that such a move appears to be contrary to the principles of fair hearing and due process as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He also vehemently asserted that the CRFFN has an undisputable responsibility over the affairs of freight forwarders, including licensed customs agents.
Without necessarily taking sides in the ensuing battle between the Council of Managing Directors and the CRFFN, it is pertinent to seek caution in the emerging face-off and the potential it has for the survival of the CRFFN.
We are surprised to hear the CRFFN Registrar lament that the Council was not in the know of the case and had no full representation during trial. If that is the case, then a good case it is, at the Appeal Court.
But, beyond the present, it is surprising that Mr Lucky Amiwero opted for litigation against the CRFFN. Has he forgotten that he once contested to be a member of the first Governing Council of the same CRFFN at its inception? He was one of the several contestants, out of whom Mr Tony Iju Nwabunike emerged as the Chair, and Alhaji Hakeem Olanrewaju emerged as the Vice Chair. The election was supervised by the Nigerian Shippers Council.
It was after he lost the elections that he started the war against CRFFN, a war that has manifested in many ways.
The position of Mr Amiwero vis-à-vis the CRFFN has led to the balkanization of the Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, which now has two parallel executives, even as Mr Amiwero still parades himself as the President, since 1996.
A closer look at the summons that were disposed to by Mr Amiwero in the case in question reveal a deep rooted war to ‘kill’ the CRFFN. He sought orders that were fundamental to the existence of CRFFN, knowing that more than 90 percent of registered freight forwarders are actually licensed customs agents, whom the Act intended to protect from decades of unregulated practice.
We recall that the CRFFN was born in 2007 as a possible solution to the myriads of problems which had militated against freight forwarding and logistics practice in Nigeria.
The CRFFN, since birth has been the most problematic of all the agencies under the Ministry of Transportation (and now the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.
So, with the appointment of Mr Kingsley Igwe as the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer in 2024, industry stakeholders, especially freight forwarders were hopeful that it would put paid to several months of apprehension and anxieties about the future of the distraught government agency.
Apart from paucity of funds, the CRFFN is the only agency under the ministry that has no board (governing council), it’s also the only agency that is a ‘tenant’, and cramped in small office spaces. It also has the highest number of governing council members, even though it is the ‘poorest’.
And since his appointment, Mr Igwe has been contending with these myriads of problems, battling to stabilize the Council from near-obscurity, irrelevance and penury. He is still trying to regain the confidence, loyalty, respect and trust of the registered freight forwarding associations and the ordinary freight forwarders (licensed customs agents).
We recall that as a former National Secretary of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (one of the registered freight forwarding associations), Mr Igwe’s appointment was met with some level of opposition, and even litigation, by those who believe that he was appointed through the back door, having allegedly not applied for the job, when the vacancy was advertised by the Ministry.
At a point before he was appointed, workers of the Council who were not paid for several months, even out of frustration took their case to the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria for assistance and adoption as an affiliate of the union. With this, the MWUN then-led by Comrade Adewale Adeyanju went to work and unionised employees of CRFFN. The union threatened to go on strike on behalf of the employees of the CRFFN. The CRFFN was reinstated back to budgetary allocation. The rest is history.
On account of the new lease of life, the CRFFN and its Registrar is just about regaining altitude from a previous fall. This is why all hands must be on deck in the match to revive the agency. The least that is required at this point is a litigation that is targeted towards crippling the Council financially, as the Lucky Amiwero’s faction of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents aims to achieve.
Central to the CRFFN’s financial rebirth is the efficient collection of the Practitioner Operating Fee (POF). While the POF has traditionally been limited to the maritime industry, the Council must recognize that freight forwarding activities extend beyond this sector. Extending POF collections to include the aviation industry, where freight forwarding plays a substantial role, could significantly increase the CRFFN’s revenue stream. Ensuring that these fees are collected transparently and fairly will also be crucial in gaining the industry’s trust and cooperation. Igwe must focus on instituting rigorous auditing practices and creating a streamlined system for POF collection that minimizes loopholes and ensures accountability.
There has been so much noise and attention on the POF, so it is our position that the Council should explore additional revenue streams, such as offering specialized training and certification programmes for freight forwarders, licensing consultancy services, and forming partnerships with local and international logistics bodies. These measures would diversify the Council’s income, reducing its dependency on POF and federal budget.
Finally, this is the time that CRFFN needs its principals; the freight forwarders in the battle against the Lucky Amiwero faction of the Council of Managing Directors. His position does not represent that of majority of practitioners. Rather than allow him suffocate the CRFFN, his faction should be called to order, by all well-meaning freight forwarders. The CRFFN must be allowed to breathe again.
