The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has called for the deregistration of four freight forwarding associations, accusing them of undermining the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) through what it described as regulatory sabotage, hypocrisy, and political vendetta.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday at the association’s headquarters, NAGAFF National President, Chief Tochukwu Ezisi, demanded the immediate delisting of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), National Association of Air Freight Forwarders and Consolidators (NAFFAC), Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (AREFFN), and the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA).
Ezisi alleged that the four CRFFN-accredited associations were exploiting a recent court judgment obtained by Mr. Lucky Amiwero of NCMDLCA to weaken the Council, despite being aware that CRFFN had appealed the ruling and filed a stay of execution.
“It is ironic and shameful that Mr. Amiwero himself, who secured the judgment, has disassociated from the manner in which these associations are now exploiting it,” Ezisi said. “This alone exposes their opportunism, lack of consistency, and political desperation.”
He accused ANLCA, in particular, of having a long-standing history of hostility towards the CRFFN, including attempts to push a counter-bill in the National Assembly aimed at weakening the Council. He also noted that several past CRFFN elections had been challenged in court by the same associations, describing their actions as a pattern of “consistent rebellion against regulatory order.”
According to Ezisi, the controversy has little to do with legal concerns and more to do with opposition to the appointment of Mr. Kingsley Igwe, a former NAGAFF Secretary, as Registrar of CRFFN.
“His emergence is not the legal problem they claim; it is their political headache. They have failed to stop him professionally, so now they have turned to litigation as a weapon of vendetta,” he asserted.
The NAGAFF President called on the federal government to investigate what he described as “economic and regulatory sabotage masked as activism” by the dissenting associations. He accused them of failing to meet their statutory financial obligations to CRFFN while simultaneously questioning its legitimacy.
He also urged ANLCA and NCMDLCA to reform their operational structures in line with the provisions of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023. “You cannot continue to benefit from a regulatory system that you constantly undermine and attempt to destroy,” Ezisi warned.
NAGAFF further advised CRFFN to initiate processes to deregister the four associations and request the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to revoke their certificates of incorporation.
Despite the ongoing disputes, Ezisi commended CRFFN’s current leadership under Mr. Kingsley Igwe, describing his performance in less than a year as “exceptional.” He noted that Igwe had diversified the Council’s revenue base beyond the Practitioner Operating Fee (POF), commenced the training of 1,000 freight forwarders with 300 already trained in 2025, and implemented key digital reforms.
“We pass a vote of absolute confidence in Mr. Igwe’s leadership and applaud the support of the Hon. Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, CON,” Ezisi said. “This administration is restoring professionalism and national service to freight forwarding in Nigeria.”
