Buhari Appoints Substantive NPA Managing Director

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday approved the appointment of Mohammed Bello Koko as the substantive managing director for the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

This was disclosed in a circular at the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Naija News reports.

The statement signed by signed by Eric Ojiekwe, director, press and public relations, reads: “Prior to this appointment, Koko was the executive director, finance & administration of NPA.”

Bello Koko

Pandora Papers: How NPA Boss, Bello-Koko Secretly Acquired Offshore Companies In UK

Recall that Mohammed Bello-Koko, was accused by the Pandora Papers of owning properties in the United Kingdom which he acquired by secretly running offshore companies.

Naija News reports that the Pandora Papers was created by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) a nonprofit newsroom and network of journalists centred in Washington, D.C., which exposes a global entanglement of political power and secretive offshore finances and dealings.

The investigation which involved over 600 journalists and over 100 media organisations have already exposed the financial dealings in former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta, the image-maker of Russian President Vladimir Putin and many others.

The Pandora Papers investigation uncovered financial secrets, including those of politicians, former and serving public officials, including Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, former PDP Vice-presidential candidate, Peter Obi, among others.

The leaked records came from 14 offshore services firms from around the world who help clients set up shell companies and design opaque structures to conceal their financial dealings.

According to the report published on Premium Times, Bello-Koko and his wife, Agatha Anne Koko, enlisted the services of Financial Secrecy Seller, Cook Worldwide and Alemán; Cordero; Galindo & Lee (Alcogal), an offshore law firm, to secretly register Coulwood Limited and Marney Limited in the British Virgin Islands. Both companies were registered ON June 19, 2008.

The regulators in the BVI also had his companies under watch for suspected money laundering — a problem Alcogal reportedly helped him tackle with some misinformation provided to the regulators.

Using the two companies, Coulwood Limited and Marney Limited, tucked away offshore, Bello-Koko was said to have anonymously acquired five London properties.

The newspaper said four of the properties were acquired between 2009 and 2012, and that Bello-Koko potentially exploited UK tax loopholes that allowed the owning of UK properties using so-called envelope structure, that is, anonymously owning properties through offshore companies.