Omolade Samuel
The Federal High Court has been urged to order the arrest and prosecution of Mohammed Bello-Koko, the managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), on charges of fraud and financial malfeasance.
The plaintiff, Comrade Isah Buta, is also joined in the suit by the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), the honorable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service.
In suit number FHC/KD/CS/78/2023, filed July 18, 2023, Bello-Koko was charged of egregious abuse of office, embezzlement of public funds, and money laundering while working as Executive Director, Finance and Administration, and MD/CEO of the NPA from January 2015 to the present.
Buta, through his lawyers, Messrs Lawrence Ijimdiya & Associates, claimed that Bello-Koko abused his positions as Executive Director, Finance and Administration, and Acting Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to amass vast wealth, which he used to purchase desirable properties in the United Kingdom.
“Specifically, the first defendant used two BVI-incorporated shell firms, Coulwood Limited (Registration Number: 1487897) and Marney Limited (Registration Number: 1487944), to surreptitiously register a total of six properties.
“The Plaintiff claims that, according to a Punch online newspaper report dated October 18, 2021, the EFCC was supposed to investigate the 1st Defendant and other top politicians in Nigeria following revelations that he operated foreign accounts that he did not declare to the Code of Conduct Bureau while serving as Director of Finance and Administration before becoming Acting Managing Director of NPA.
“The Plaintiff further alleges that the first defendant may have hidden his ill-gotten wealth in tax havens such as Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, and the British Isle of Man, using the said foreign accounts to evade paying taxes to the Nigerian government.”
“The Plaintiff states and will contend during the trial of this suit that in 2022, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) issued an Investigative Report indicting Koko for his involvement in N829, 000, 000 (Eight Hundred and Twenty-Nine Million Naira) fraud through kickbacks and money laundering activities.
“The EFCC probe report exclusively obtained by Sahara Reporters in April 2022 revealed that the 1st Defendant after being investigated was found to have received N829, 000, 000 (Eight Hundred and Twenty-Nine Million Naira) from NPA contractors, and in cash sums from individuals and companies.
“At the time the report was done, the 1st Defendant was the acting Managing Director of the NPA. Following the suspension of Hadiza Bala Usman as the Managing Director of NPA by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Presidency announced the 1st Defendant as her replacement in an acting capacity.
The Plaintiff sought the following reliefs from the Court: “A declaration that the 1st Defendant ought to have been arrested and prosecuted by the 3rd Defendant by virtue of its own (3rd Defendant’s) financial profiling and report on the financial misconducts or improprieties of the 1st Defendant specifically on his gross abuse of office, misappropriation of Public funds, fraud and money Laundering, contrary to Sections 18 (4) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 and the 7th Schedule to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) while serving as Executive Director, Finance and Administration as well as Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) between January, 2015 till date.
“An order directing the 3rd Defendant to arrest and prosecute the 1st Defendant based on the financial profiling and report on the financial improprieties of the 1st Defendant particularly as it relates to offences on abuse of office, misappropriation of public funds, fraud, and money laundering contrary to Sections 18 (4) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 and the 7th Schedule to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended
“An order directing the 4th Defendant to arrest and prosecute the 1st Defendant in light of his overwhelming indictment for offences relating to failure to declare assets, abuse of office, and abuse of his oath of office in violation of the 7th schedule of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, as amended.
“An order directing the 5th Defendant to arrest and prosecute the 1st Defendant for the indicated offences bordering on abuse of office in violation of the 7th Schedule to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, while serving as Executive Director, Finance and Administration, and Acting Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) from January 2015 to date.
“An order directing the 5th Defendant to arrest and prosecute the 1st Defendant for the indicated offenses that border on Abuse of Office in violation of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution as amended while the 1st Defendant was serving as the Acting Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Executive Director of Finance and Administration between January 2015 and the present.
In order to facilitate the swift arrest and prosecution of the first defendant for offenses related to abuse of office, misappropriation of public funds, fraud, and money laundering against Section 18(4) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 and the 7th Schedule to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the order requires the sixth defendant to revoke the first defendant’s international passport and prohibit him from leaving Nigeria to seek asylum in London, Dubai, Canada, the United States of America, or any other part of the world. This order is necessary while the first defendant was serving as executive director of finance and administration and acting managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) between January 2015.
The amount of N200,000,000 (two hundred million Naira) was spent to reimburse the costs that the plaintiff suffered in starting this lawsuit.
The suit hearing has not, however, been scheduled.