The NAGAFF Board In-Council have been patient and watching various developments in the industry, particularly after the appointment of the current Registrar of the CRFFN, Mr. Kingsley Igwe. The reason we chose to remain calm and silent was to avoid being seen as patronizing or partisan. Honestly, we also expected our colleagues to have a rethink and be professional in their actions and stop creating unnecessary disturbances. Unfortunately, the situation did not abate, hence the need for this press release.
After some anxious consultations and a thorough analysis of the recent press conference held on Friday, July 18, 2024, by the four splinter groups in the freight forwarding profession—ANLCA, AREFF, NAFFAC, and NCMDLCA—we are highly compelled to set the record straight. Recall also that these associations are among the five (5) associations duly accredited, controlled, and regulated by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), in line with Section 4 of Act No 16, 2007.
In the aforementioned press conference, the gladiators aligned themselves with the alleged court verdict of the case instituted against the CRFFN by the factional President of NCMDLCA, Mr. Lucky Eyis Amiwero. The said judgment was delivered by the Federal High Court, Lagos, on 26th May 2025 in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/765/2018 – REGISTERED TRUSTEES OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF MANAGING DIRECTORS OF LICENSED CUSTOMS AGENTS (NCMDLCA) V. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION & 3 ORS.
The CRFFN has since appealed to challenge the ruling of the Lagos High Court, with copies of the Notice of Appeal filed by the CRFFN and Proof of Service of the Notice of Appeal on the Plaintiff (NCMDLCA).
It is also on record that an application for a stay of execution of the judgment has also been filed in the same court of first instance. This simply means that the judgment remains invalid pending the outcome of the appeal court decision.
However, in a swift reaction, Mr. Lucky Eyis Amiwero lambasted the group for the needless press conference while DISSOCIATING himself from their unsolicited support for his personal efforts via this message: 👇
”Just look at the gathering of these strange bedfellows. Ganging up together to reap where they did not sow. A case of ‘my enemy, who is the enemy of my enemy, is now my friend.’ When they slept on their rights and were busy fighting over the sharing formula of the POF, they never saw CRFFN action as illegal. Where were they when Lucky Amiwero single-handedly pursued the case and secured the judgment? Some of them even bashed Amiwero for challenging CRFFN, but now, have gathered to enjoy relief from another man’s struggle. Pushed by the frustration of not getting any share as CRFFN said that a Consultant fraudulently swallowed everything, they’ve now latched onto Amiwero’s court judgment, in revenge of those that outsmarted them in the Council’s politics and booties sharing.”
The above ugly remarks by Mr. Lucky Eyis Amiwero concerning these individuals clearly portray them as untrustworthy and confused persons. They can best be described as a bunch of dribblers and directionless folks. We have waited to hear their reaction to these highly non complimentary remarks but discovered they lacked the wisdom to decode the weighty nature and the implications of Mr. Lucky’s comments, which completely smeared and eroded their credibility and made them interlopers in the industry.
Instructively, there is no industry stakeholder who feign ignorance of the intrigue and antecedents of our sister association, ANLCA, against the creation of the CRFFN. From inception, during the submission of the Bill to enact the CRFFN Act and the subsequent public hearing, ANLCA had vehemently opposed the Bill. In clear terms, they presented a counter-Bill for the NASS to enact an Act to Establish a Council for the regulation of Licensed Customs Agents to replace the CRFFN Bill and to ensure they killed the CRFFN Bill.
Here again, one can appreciate the low level of understanding among this group of uninformed groupings who do not understand that Customs law does not recognize natural persons primarily other than corporate bodies licensed by Customs to carry on with Customs transactions.
It was the insistence of the Distinguished members of the NASS that calmed the request of the former President of ANLCA, Alhaji (Senator) Kamba, who clearly declared that he was at the public hearing to kill the CRFFN Bill. However, he was duly guided that NASS does not kill bills. NASS advised him, therefore, to push for his interest in the Bill to regulate Licensed customs agents if he so wishes.
Again, recall also that in 2008, during the first maiden election into the Governing Council of the CRFFN, in which Mr. Lucky Amiwero fully participated, the antecedents of ANLCA in that election are still fresh in our minds: how the election was rigged outrightly, the motor park boys used as voters in place of freight forwarders, the number of arrests made during the election and the emergence of seven members of ANLCA with a NAFFAC member, making the statutory eight members from the freight forwarding practitioners register.
The infractions were enough for us to insist on the cancellation of the election, but we allowed and ignored the anomalies for the Council to move on. The same Mr. Lucky who contested the election and lost went to court to challenge the outcome of the election. Seventeen years down the line he has been protesting the outcome of that election, till the recent judgment he obtained against the CRFFN. Of course, the major prayers he sought for, which the court granted in favor of his faction of NCMDLCA, are:
1. That licensed customs agents are not freight forwarders and should not be subjected to the regulation by the CRFFN.
2. That the collection of Practitioners Operating Fees (POF) by CRFFN from the Licensed customs agents is illegal.
The same view was what informed Mr. Emenike Nwokeoji, President of the ANLCA-led group, to address the Press in alignment with Mr. Lucky Amiwero’s court verdict. Aside from this recent gang-up against the CRFFN, there have been other acts of sabotage by the same group and other individuals, including the court case instituted by the same opposing group against the appointment of Mr. Kingsley Igwe as the Registrar of the CRFFN.
The matter is still ongoing as we speak. Their grievance is alleged to be because Mr. Kingsley was a NAGAFF member prior to his appointment as the substantive Registrar of the CRFFN.
Indeed, Mr Kingsley Igwe and the trouble shooters are no match in terms of proficiencies in freight forwarding and logistics business, noting the high level of knowledgeable practitioners in NAGAFF.
NAGAFF has passed through a series of crucibles, betrayals, and blackmails in our efforts to ensure the liberation of freight forwarders and set the profession on the path of professionalism, and therefore has no issues with their chosen position.
From our experience with these characters, they are willing accomplices who simply wish to hide under the cover of the court pronouncement to ridicule an Agency statutorily established by an Act of the National Assembly with clear mandates. The extant provisions of the CRFFN Act No. 16 of 2007 and its supplementary legislations have made provisions on what the accredited associations, corporate bodies, and individuals under the regulation of the Council can and cannot do—Simplicita!
Our humble advice to the Hon. Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, H.E. Adegboyega Oyetola (CON), the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, the Registrar and the Management of the CRFFN is that they should not lose sleep as a result of this development.
The four splinter groups put together do not constitute up to 20% of the entire freight forwarding practitioners in Nigeria.
We have an uncountable number of groups who have been paying the POF even against the discouragements and misinformation being peddled to starve the CRFFN of its statutory funds. These groups, though are yet to be recognized by the authorities, are fully in support of the CRFFN and participate in every activity in the industry.
NAGAFF alone forms over 80% of freight forwarders in Nigeria. This information is verifiable, referencing natural persons.
Based on the foregoing, NAGAFF is of the opinion that:
1. The authorities should allow the factional President of NCMDLCA, Mr. Lucky Eyis Amiwero’s group and their accomplices to go as they wish and allow the CRFFN to face its mandate as provided by law. We are convinced that the CRFFN will stabilize and be more focused if these elements are granted their request to exit. We suspect that this group is being sponsored by the enemies of the state who are hell-bent on sabotaging the good efforts of the government. One of the worst crimes anyone can commit against the state is to deny the government its statutory revenue.
3. The antecedents of these groups in question had already portrayed them as non-progressive minds whose activities in the ports need to be watched. We are aware that one of the freight forwarding groups in the industry had already called for the deregistering of these groups who have been fomenting needless troubles in the industry.
4. These same groups, over the years, deliberately refused to fulfill their statutory obligations to the CRFFN in terms of payment of their individual annual subscriptions as well as their accredited associations. It was the exposure we made at the time we expressed interest to join in the suit they instituted against the appointment of the current Registrar, CRFFN that forced them to update their associations’ records with CRFFN.
5. The ANLCA and NCMDLCA should stop impersonating their actual names/nomenclature. It is clear that the CEMA which recognizes them as Licensed Customs Agents has been repealed. They should make bold to adopt their new label and move intelligently with time. Until they adopt the new nomenclature for their group inline with the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, we shall continue to regard them as impostors without clear identity. Enough of that deceit which was where they hid to obtain the alleged court verdict.
6. That the threat to government revenue is a statutory offense which the authorities should not toy with. Therefore, the activities of these groups need the attention of the appropriate authority so that we can differentiate when they intend to obey a court judgment and when they deliberately disobey lawful obligations and attempt to deny government its rightful revenue.
7. It is our wish that even when these grouping adopt the new nomenclature—Customs Representatives—in line with the NCS Act 2023, they also need to stop being an appendage and liberate themselves to toe the line of professionalism to become qualified Customs brokers by training and certification.
8. From the grapevine, rumors are filtering on how some individuals intend to sponsor petitions against the management of the CRFFN. Such persons should have a rethink and allow the sleeping dog to lie, as the saying goes that “wise people who live in glass houses always avoid throwing stones”. But, if they dare us NAGAFF will not hesitate to open the Pandora’s box.
The Hon. Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, H.E Adegboyega Oyetola (CON), is being encouraged to deregister forthwith the four ailing associations and move on to recommend to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to withdraw their certificates of registration based on threats to revenue due to government of the federation.
It is also getting very clear that the majority of the old COUNCIL members are worried that very soon EFCC maybe be invited to investigate the financial standing of CRFFN from inception to date, their intentions to return back to the board of CRFFN is a mere wishful thinking
In conclusion, the Freight forwarders of Nigeria, which NAGAFF represents, after seeing the excellent and unquantifiable performance of the current Registrar, Mr. Kingsley Igwe, in spite of all the distractions and disturbances by the naysayers and enemies of the state, hereby pass absolute vote of confidence on the Registrar, CRFFN.
This is also in confirmation of his quality leadership, innovative ideas, professional skills, and proposing ways forward for the future of the freight forwarding subsector of the economy, in less than a year in office. We wish to assure the Registrar of the support of the High Command of NAGAFF and the teeming freight forwarding practitioners in Nigeria.
Therefore, it is our candid advice to all freight forwarding practitioners to remain professional in carrying out their businesses and also ensure full compliance with their financial obligations to CRFFN and other governmental agencies in the industry.
Let it be on record that there are two primary legislative instruments governing freight forwarding profession in Nigeria, the CRFFN ACT No- 16 of 2007 and NCS Act 2023. WE SHALL IN DUE COURSE MAKE FURTHER STATEMENTS, BUT WHAT IS CERTAIN IS THAT NIGERIA CUSTOMS SERVICE DO NOT TRANSACT BUSINESS WITH REGISTERED FREIGHT FORWARDING ASSOCIATIONS OTHER THAN CORPORATE BODIES REFFERED TO IN THE NCS ACT 2023 AS CUSTOMS REPRESENTATIVES.
Dr. Clement Iwegbuna
Head of special Duty NAGAFF Board