About 74 Civil Society Organizations, CSOs, under the auspices of the Coalition of Civil Society Organization of Nigeria, COCSON on Tuesday, backed the stance of the management of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) over the alleged claim of acquisition of properties abroad by NIMASA.
COCSON made its position known during a press conference held in Abuja, where leaders of the CSOs expressed disappointment with the accusations made by Falana.
This was contained in a statement signed by some of the leaders, including the President of the Transparency & Accountability Group
Comrade Ayo Ologun; Executive Director, African Leadership Strategy and Transparency Development Initiative, Comrade Nelson Ossaieze; President Ijaw Youth Assembly, Comrade Dabara Dagogo; The Convener,
Centre for Public Accountability, Femi Lawson; President Arewa Youth Congress, Nura Alkali; Convener, Transparency Initiative Project, Yemen Ngutor; and Executive Director, Pan African Society for Social and Economic Change Secretary COCSON, Basah Mohammed.
According to them, after a thorough investigation, COCSON had “contracted an independent investigator whose primary Term of Reference was to investigate the accusations made by the respected Femi Falana, SAN against the management of NIMASA that it recently acquired no fewer than three properties in England, UK.”
“We want to state today that the report from the investigation has been turned in; we also want to state that another person who was consulted in this matter has unanimously agreed that the accusations are false.
“We want to state for the record that it is public knowledge that the agency has not acquired any property abroad for the past 30 years.
“It is important to state categorically that NIMASA is one of the agencies of government which has good administration and a high level of integrity. They have also displayed a high level of compliance with the extant laws guiding its operations.
“While we don’t want to join words with the learned silk, we indeed appreciate his opinions on topics of public concern, but it is obvious that he may have been misguided by other persons on this matter.
“The NIMASA DG, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, for the record, is known for his proven track record in the NIMASA, which is devoid of any form of corruption and scandalous act.
“Dr Jamoh, since his appointment, has shown that he is a round peg in a round hole. Since his emergence, he has identified some of the problems in NIMASA and successfully implemented solutions.
“Also, The accusations of nepotism, mismanagement of funds, and awarding fictitious contracts against Dr. Bashir Jamoh are false and baseless. As a matter of fact, employment under Jamoh has been transparent and devoid of any manipulation. Jamoh as a person, has refused to get involved in employment directly.”
However, the 74 CSOs said, “We are therefore appealing to those engaging in such smear campaigns to desist from such acts and allow the DG of NIMASA to concentrate on his duties.
“We also enjoin individuals and other Anti-corruption Vanguard to carry out their personal investigation on the credibility of these claims.”