Allegations are baseless, false,says Nwakohu
Anti-corruption watchdog group the Royal Integrity and Accountability International (RIAI) has called on authorities to investigate the alleged frauds committed by the Registrar and Chief Executive of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) Barr Samuel Nwakohu.
The group in a petition to the Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), that was received in November 2020 , a copy of which was made available to our reporter accused Nwakohu of certificate forgery and misappropriation of N1.6 Bn belonging to the CRFFN among other things.
Mr.Ekwoyi Ochigbo, the Executive Director Royal Integrity and Accountability International in the petition called for a thorough investigation into allegations against Nwakohu and his prosecution in order to halt the current administration from being dragged into the muds.
The civil society group also warned that if the CCB failure to investigate the matter drags much longer, it would not hesitate to take to the streets to protest what it described as a lingering embarrassing situation.
In one of the petitions against the Registrar, he was alleged to have made a donation of N24,217,000 to a fake NGO whose activities have absolutely nothing to do with CRFFN.
He also allegedly made huge donations to his alma mater, Okrika Grammar School Old Boys’ Association, and another to a Federal University in Gombe as corporate social responsibility of the CRFFN without documentary evidences.
Nwakohu also allegedly approved for self and collected N47,946,000.00 as additional training fees to the N109 million he earlier approved and disbursed to ADG International Resources, organisers of the February 2020 CRFFN seminar held at Radisson Blue Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos State.
The Registrar was further alleged to have collected the sum of N10 million as rent for a non-existing CRFFN office reportedly located at No.33, Lord Lugard Street, Asokoro, Abuja.
The group further alleged that the CRFFN Registrar, Barr Samuel Nwakohu, falsified his age and may not have any certificates to back up his claim that he is actually a lawyer even as it alleged that Thames Valley University was established in 1992, eight years after 1984 when the Registrar claimed to have been awarded LLB (Hon) from the same institution.
But Nwakohu has denied all the accusations and described all the allegations against him as false and lacking in merit.
The CRFFN Registrar said he neither falsified his age nor engaged in any financial fraud.
He said that the same Royal Integrity and Accountability International had petitioned him to both the CCB and the Federal Ministry of Transportation the CRFFN parent ministry but that he was given a clean bill in both establishments at the end of their investigations.
On the allegation that he was not a lawyer, Nwakohu said the onus of proof rests on those who are making the allegation and advised them to write to the respective schools to ascertain the truth.