The quest by the Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) to generate N5 billion through collection of Practitioners Operating Fee (POF) from clearing agents, including Licensed Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders at the nations ports has hit a brick-wall following a court judgement barring the Council from collecting such fee from Licensed Customs Brokers.
Recall that in January of 2020, the then Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the CRFFN, Mr. Samuel Nwakohu, had disclosed to newsmen that the council was projecting a revenue of about N5billion annually from the collection of the Practitioners Operating Fees at the nation’s ports.
However, in a landmark judgement delivered by the Federal High Court, Lagos in suit No. FHC/CS/765/2018, which was sighted by the Nigerian Tribune, the court stated that the business and regulation of Licensed Customs Agents (LCA) fall exclusively under the Customs Act, which vests regulatory control in the Minister of Finance and Nigeria Customs Service(NCS), and not under the CRFFN.
The suit which was filed by members of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) also stated that the CRFFN, established under the (CRFFN) Act 2007, is a separate regulatory body whose jurisdiction applies only to Freight Forwarders, and not Licensed Customs Agents.
“The honorable Minster of Transportation lacks legal authority to issue directives regulating the business or operation of Licensed Customs Agents, and the directive published in a national newspaper on August 1, 2017, is therefore ultra vires, null, and void to the extent that it purports to regulate or restrict the activities of Licensed Customs Agents (LCA)
“The said directive imposes unlawful and conflicting regulatory obligations on Licensed Customs Agents, causing legal uncertainty, hardship, and Jeopardy to their operations,” the court judgement states.
When contacted on the court ruling by the Nigerian Tribune, the CRFFN Registrar/CEO, Mr. Igwe Kingsley Onyekachi stated that the Council is not aware of the court case as none of its legal team was present during the hearing.
In the words of the CRFFN Registrar/CEO, “We were not aware of the court ruling and how it happened. We were never informed or notified by the court. All the defending parties were not notified. No Notice of Hearing was issued as reported to me by the CRFFN Legal Counsel.
“We are still studying the ruling and we will come up with a statement very soon.”
READ ALSO: Aside POF, CRFFN targets new avenues for revenue generation
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