The Federal Ministry of Transport has thrown its weight behind the collection of the controversial professional operating fee (POF).

The collection of the POF has remained a bone of contention among the umbrella body of agents in the country, the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and another set of agents under the auspices of freight, practicing fee under the auspices of the Concerned Registered Freight Forwarders Associations (CRFFA).

While ANLCA has taken a position on the collection of POF by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), the other associations have teamed up to oppose it with the two groups attending meetings in Lagos and coming up with different account of its outcome. However, in an apparent move to forge ahead in spite of the fight over who control the collection of POF, the ministry directed CRFFN to start the collection of the fee.

The directive to  CRFFN to begin the collection of the controversial POF was contained in a letter issued by the ministry and signed by its Director of Maritime Services, Alhaji Musa Nagogo.

Dated 15th July 2015, the ministry made it clear that the council which has been operating without any governing board for over two years should start collecting the fee.

It is, however, not clear if a court case instituted against the ministry, CRFFN, the Attorney-General of the Federation and four registered freight forwarding associations at the Federal High Court, Lagos would not stall the directive.