From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
The Royal Integrity and Accountability International (RIAI) has called on authorities to dig into the alleged fraud linked to the Registrar and Chief Executive of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) under the Ministry of Transportation, Barr Samuel Nwakohu.
The group, in a petition to the Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), a copy of which was made available to Daily Sun in Makurdi, the Benue State capital at the weekend, accused Nwakohu of certificate forgery and misappropriation of huge funds belonging to the CRFFN among other things.
The convener of the group, Mr Ekwoyi Ochigbo, in the 15-paged petition called for investigation into the allegation and possible prosecution in order to halt the current administration from being dragged into the muds.
The group also warned that if the CCB failed to investigate the matter, 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 #33, Lord Lugard Street, Asokoro, Abuja.
The group also 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 when contacted by telephone, Nwakohu described all the allegations against him as false and lacking in merit.
The CRFFN Registrar, who insisted he neither falsified his age nor engaged in any financial fraud, confirmed that the same RIAI had petitioned him to both the CCB and the Ministry of Transportation but that he was given a clean bill in both establishments in the end.
On the allegation about the falsification of his alma mater and that he did not go to law school, 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.