President Muhammadu Buhari
Overwhelmed by the new anti-corruption
agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari, the
36 state governors have rushed to the Code of
Conduct Bureau (CCB) to declare their assets.
The bureau has, however, started investigation
of the claims in the assets declaration forms
of the governors.
None of the governors has chosen to make the
list of assets public.
But the probe of the declared assets might
take some months to complete.
It was, however, learnt last night that the CCB
is expecting all the governors to close down
their foreign accounts.
An advisory has gone to the governors and
their deputies in line with the Fifth Schedule,
Part 1 on Code of Conduct for Public Officers.
According to findings by our correspondent, all
the 36 governors have declared and submitted
their assets forms.
The response was said to be “unprecedented”
by a source in the CCB despite the fact that
the governors have up to three months to do
so.
The constitution says: “The bureau shall have
power to receive declaration by public officers
made under paragraph 12 of part 1 of the Fifth
Schedule to this Constitution.
“Subject to the provision of this Constitution,
every public officer shall within three months
after the coming into force of this Code of
Conduct or immediately after taking office and
thereafter (a) at the end of every four years;
and (b) at the end of his term of office, submit
to the Code of Conduct Bureau a written
declaration of all his properties, assets and
liabilities and those of his unmarried children
under the age of eighteen years.”
A reliable source in the CCB said: “From our
compilation so far, all the governors have
declared their assets. This is the first time we
are experiencing full compliance by the
governors because of the anti-corruption
policy of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“In spite of the fact that the law allows the
governors to declare their assets within three
months, they have all rushed to fulfil this
constitutional obligation.
“I think they were all responding to the spur of
the moment on anti-graft war. We are happy
that the governors have emulated the
President and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.”
Responding to a question, the source said:
“Our law forbids us from disclosing the assets
of any public officer, but from what is in our
custody, none of the 36 governors has less
than N100million assets.
“Some of them are worth billions of naira in
their declaration forms.”
But the CCB has started verifying the assets of
the governors to find out whether or not they
were truthful in their assets declaration forms.
The top official of the CCB added: “We have
started investigation of the claims of the
governors to ascertain whether they are real
or bogus. We will also try to find out if any of
the governors padded his assets or not.
“The verification is going to be a painstaking
exercise because the law is very strict on false
declaration.
“It also requires huge overhead to move
around the country to verify some of these
assets. The only luck we have is that we have
offices in most states of the federation.”
After the declaration, the constitution
empowers the bureau to take the following
steps.
They are: “Examine the declarations in
accordance with the requirements of the Code
of Conduct or any law.
“Retain custody of such declarations and
make them available for inspection by any
citizen of Nigeria on such terms and
conditions as the National Assembly may
prescribe.
“Ensure compliance with and, where
appropriate, enforce the provisions of the Code
of Conduct or any law relating thereto.
“Any statement in such declaration that is
found to be false by any authority or person
authorized in that behalf to verify it shall be
deemed to be a breach of this code.
“Any property or assets acquired by a public
officer after any declaration required under this
constitution and which is not fairly
attributable to income, gift, or loan approved
by this code shall be deemed to have been
acquired in breach of this code unless the
contrary is proved.”
“Receive complaints about non-compliance
with or breach of the provisions of the Code of
Conduct or any law in relation thereto.
Investigate the complaint and, where
appropriate, refer such matters to the Code of
Conduct Tribunal.”
Meanwhile, all the governors and their
deputies are expected to close down their
foreign bank accounts in compliance with the
Fifth Schedule, Part 1 on Code of Conduct for
Public Officers.
The CCB official said: “The closure of foreign
bank accounts is mandatory for these
governors, deputy governors, and many elected
members of the legislature and public officers.
“In fact, if anyone is found still maintaining his
or her foreign accounts, he or she will be
arraigned before the Code of Conduct
Tribunal. Where such a public officer enjoys
immunity, he or she will face trial after leaving
office.”
The constitution says: “The President, Vice
President, Governor, Deputy Governor,
Ministers of the Government of the Federation
and Commissioners of the Governments of the
States, members of the National Assembly and
the Houses of Assembly of the states and
such other public officers or persons as the
National Assembly may by law prescribe shall
not maintain or operate a bank account in any
country outside Nigeria.”
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