CSOs Peddling Lies, Blackmailing Me – NPA MD

The managing director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko, has lamented what he called blackmail against his person by unknown Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the last two years.

In a statement personally signed by Bello-Koko, a copy of which was made available to LEADERSHIP, the NPA helmsman said the unknown CSOs have resorted to blackmail, using the instrumentality of a section of online media to push their mischief against him.

He, however, threatened to sue any medium, who allowed its platform to be used to peddle untrue, unsubstantiated and false story about him.

According to him, of all the years he served as a banker and a public officer till date, he has never been indicted or convicted by any court in or outside the country.

He said, “In the past two years, in a desperate bid to defame and extort me, some faceless individuals under the cloak of unknown Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). Having failed in their desperation to dent or hurt my integrity, they have resorted to a very cruel campaign of calumny against my person and my family.

“Because they are faceless, I don’t have the opportunity to seek redress in court on the grounds of their rehashed and rehearsed lies. I need to reiterate that for all of my years as a banker and a public officer up till today, I have never been indicted or convicted by any court. And this fact is in the public domain. I’m also certain that my integrity as well as dedication and fidelity to the rules of public administration must have influenced the decision by the Federal Government of Nigeria to promote me from the rank of Executive Director (Finance and Administration) to Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Ports Authority.”

Bello-Koko stated further that in desperation, the unknown CSOs wrote to the government of the United Kingdom seeking visa cancelation for him and forfeiture of his properties abroad.

He asked whether his readiness to serve the federal government was a crime that would warrant his family and himself being hounded by the alleged blackmailers.

“Resorting to writing to the UK Government, seeking visa cancellation and forfeiture of assets belonging to my wife and I, is not only malicious but also cruel and wicked. I have yet to understand why these evil machinations would be orchestrated against me. Is the offence that I committed my acceptance and readiness to serve my country to the best of my ability?

“This latest attack, in the series of sponsored blackmails targeted at me, which began in 2021 immediately I was elevated from the position of Executive Director of Finance and Administration to the position of Managing Director of the NPA is intended to damage my reputation. Is there no limit to what vested interests can do in their desperate pursuit of power and influence?

“In deceit, they have disingenuously claimed in the sponsored report that UK/Ireland Investigators were the ones that had written to the UK government after they had purportedly unearthed alleged criminal acts against me, bordering on money laundering activities, fraud, forgery, and tax evasion, which are all baseless figments of their malicious intent.

“Whereas, particulars cited in the report were the regurgitated allegations that they had sponsored and which had been doing the rounds in the media from the outset, this latest attempt is as spurious as their first attempt ever.

“If the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had been on the matter as indicated in the report, it is then unfair to suggest or claim that some questionable UK/Ireland Investigators are now pushing for exclusion order to ban me from ever entering the United Kingdom. One expects that there should be inter-agency collaboration in line with some bilateral or mutual agreements.

“All the supposed assertions and innuendos in the report are nothing but spurious and malicious concoctions intended to cause a predetermined damage. I had, on several occasions, stated that the NPA under my leadership is not aware of any secret foreign accounts and I could not have been a beneficiary of something that I am not aware of and, which I would like to emphasize is non – existent to the best of my knowledge.

“For the record, the NPA on my watch has specifically, in terms of tangible achievements that the various publics can relate with, recorded some modest achievements. The NPA has generated the sum of N286 billion and remitted over N100 billion to Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) account of the federation as of November 2022.”

“In light of the above, I cannot afford to be distracted by the deliberate shenanigans of blackmailers and vested interests who are desperate to upset the applecart of my sharply-focused leadership that is committed to emplacing and bequeathing to the nation a transparent and accountable management of the NPA now and in the years ahead.

“In rounding off, I will, henceforth, institute legal action against any media house that publishes unsubstantiated and damaging reports about my person.

“I’ll not hesitate to seek the support of all well-meaning and decent citizens to tell my traducers to use their energy for more meaningful endeavor than to engage in maliciousness of their campaign of intimidation, blackmail, and vendetta. My job at the NPA is not personal. It is national service, to which I had resolved from the outset to give my best shot,” he stated.