The Code of Conduct Bureau has begun massive
verification of assets declared by top serving and former public officers at
the federal, state and local government levels.
A statement by the Chairman of the CCB, Mr. Sam
Saba, released by the Press and Protocol Unit of the bureau on Thursday, stated
that the exercise involved physical appearance of the concerned public officers
before the bureau for conference and field verifications of their declared
assets.
Conference verification requires public officers
to present documents relating to their declared assets to designated officials
of the bureau.
On the other hand, field
verification involves public officers taking CCB officials to locations of
their declared landed, fixed and other assets that could not be conveniently
moved to the bureau’s office.
He stated that by virtue
of Paragraph 11 of Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution (as
amended), “every public officer is required to submit to the Code of Conduct
Bureau a written declaration of all properties, assets and liabilities and
those of his/her spouse (if not a public officer) and his unmarried children
under the age of 18 years.”
He added that any
statement in the declaration, found to be false by any authorities or persons
authorised to verify it, “shall be deemed to be a breach of the code”.
He stated, “To this end,
the Bureau has commenced its 2016 4th Quarter Cycle of Conference and Field
Verification of Assets of top public officers. Accordingly, letters of
invitation have been dispatched to ministers of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, service chiefs and other top public officers.
“All invited public
officers are to note that failure to honour the invitation by the CCB in this
regard is a breach of the provisions of the constitution and could lead to
prosecution at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
“Public officers not yet
invited are to await their letters of invitation.”
He listed 76 public
officers that had been invited by the bureau with a threat of the possibility
of prosecution if they fail to honour the invitation.
Among the 76 invitees are
30 ministers whom, according to the bureau, have yet to submit themselves to
the exercise.
According to the bureau, ministers
who have yet to submit themselves for the verification are Rotimi Amaechi
(Transportation); Babatunde Fashola (Power, Works and Housing); Ibe Kachikwu
(Petroleum Resources (State); Abubakar Malami (Attorney General of the
Federation and Minister of Justice); Adebayo Shittu (Communications); Dr.
Kayode Fayemi (Solid Minerals and Steel Development); Audu Ogbeh (Agriculture
and Rural Development).
Others include Senator
Aisha Alhassan (Women Affairs and Social Development); Solomon Dalung (Youths
& Sports Development); Osagie Ehanire (Health (State)); Usani Usani (Niger
Delta Affairs); Prof. Anthony Anwukah (Education (State)); Lai Mohammed
(Information and Culture), and Gen. Ali Mansur (retd.) (Defence).
The list also includes
Senator Udo Udoma (Budget and National Planning); Ibrahim Jibril (Environment
(State)); Suleiman Adamu (Water Resources and Rural Development); Mustapha
Shehuri (Power (State)); Prof. Claudius Daramola (Niger Delta Affairs (State))
and Kemi Adeosun (Finance) as those who have not submitted themselves to
verification.
The rest are Prof. Isaac
Adewole (Health); Okechukwu Enelamah (Trade, Investment and Industry); Geoffrey
Onyema (Foreign Affairs ); Muhammadu Bello (Federal Capital Territory); Senator
Hadi Sirika (Aviation (State)); Hajiya Khadija Bukar (Foreign Affairs(State));
Senator Chris Ngige (Labour and Employment); Heineken Lokpobiri (Agriculture
and Rural Development (State)); Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu (Science and
Technology); and Abubakar Bwari (Solid Minerals (State) ).
The rest of the public
officers still expected to submit themselves to the bureau are the Governor,
Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele; Head of Service of the Federation,
Mrs. Oyo-Ita Ekanem; Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olanishakin; Chief of
Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Abubakar Sadique; and the Chief of Naval Staff,
Vice Admiral Ibas Ibok.
Also on the list are the
immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase; Chairman, Police
Service Commission, Chief Mike Okiro; Controller-General of Nigeria Immigration
Service, Babatunde Mohammed; Executive Secretary of Nigeria Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative, Waziri Adio; Director-General of National
Pension Commission, Mrs. Chinelo Amazu; and Executive Director/Chief Executive
Officer, Export Promotion Council, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo.
Also yet to turn up for
the CCB verification are the Director-General, National Youth Service Corps,
Brig.-Gen. Sule Kazaure; Executive Secretary, Nigeria Sao-Tome & Principle
Joint Development Authority, Kashim Tumash; Group Managing Director, Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation, Maikanti Baru; Controller-General of Federal
Fire Service, Anebi Garba; Director-General, Budget and National Planning, Mr.
Ben Akabueze, and Managing Director, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Commission,
Ibrahim Umaru.
Others include the
Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission, Prof. Abubakar Adamu;
Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, Mrs. Hadiza Usman; Managing
Director, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, Ahmed Kuru, and
Controller-General of MSCDS, Muhammad Abdullahi.
The Deputy
Inspectors-General of Police, who are on the list, are Ntom Chukwu, Folusho
Adebanjo, Emmanuel Inyang, Maigari Dikko, Joshak Habila, Shuaibu Gambo, and
Hyacinth Dagala.
An Assistant
Inspector-General of Police, Abdul Bube, is also on the list.
Military officers, whose
names appear on the list, are Real Admiral Joseph Osa (Commandant, Operation
Delta Safe) and Major General M. A. Koleoso (GOC Tradoc).
The CCB also listed a
number of Federal Commissioners of the Civil Service Commission and three Group
Executive Directors of the NNPC, who are yet to submit themselves to the CCB’s
verification.
In the statement, the CCB
stated that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, and five other
ministers, among 15 other former and serving public officers, had submitted
themselves to the asset verification.
Buratai recently became
the target of scathing public scrutiny when reports of his choice $1.5m
properties, which he claimed were acquired in the name of his wife in Dubai,
hit the public space.
Saba, confirmed to our
correspondent on the telephone that all the 15 persons, whose assets had been
verified, had been issued a certificate of Conference Verification/Field
Verification.
“The Chief of Army Staff
was the first to be issued his certificate. We started issuing to others last
week,” he said.
Responding to further
inquiry about whether the certificate issued by the CCB implied that the cleared
public officers were free from liability of criminal prosecution, Saba stated,
“Even though the tribunal (Code of Conduct Tribunal) is the institution with
the power of adjudication in asset declaration breaches, the certificate means
that from our own end, we are satisfied with the verification that we have
done.”
The five cleared
ministers are Abdulrahman Dambazau (Interior); Zainab Shamsuna (Budget &
National Planning); Adamu Adamu (Education); Aisha Abubakar (Minister of
Trade, Investment & Industry (State)); and Amina Mohammed (Minister of
Environment).
The rest of the former
and serving public officers already cleared by the CCB are the immediate past
Secretary of the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim; Chairman,
Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood; a former
Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Julius Okojie, and a former
Controller-General, Nigerian Prisons Service, Ezenwa Peter.
They also include the
Acting MD/CEO, Niger Delta Development Commission, Semenitari Tamunoibim;
Controller-General, Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Ibrahim Ali (retd.);
Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris; Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety
Corps, Boboye Oyeyemi; and Federal Commissioner, Civil Service Commission, Hope
Ikrirko.
The CCB boss commended
those that had turned up for the exercise.
Punch
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