16th November, 2015
Abiodun Onafuye/Abeokuta
A legal practitioner has suggested that the unbundling of the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, is the only way towards effective fight against corruption in the country.
The former Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja branch, Lagos State, Monday Ubani revealed this over the weekend at a lecture and award ceremony organised by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Radio Nigeria, Paramount FM Chapel, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Ubani recommended the establishment of two agencies to deal with asset declaration of public officials in the country.
Speaking on a paper titled, “Assets declaration: Panacea for corruption among public officers?”, the former NBA Chairman declared that both Mr President, Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has done well by publicly declaring their assets, but opined that their actions still fell short of an acceptable standard.
According to him, “For instance, the values of the real estate held by them is not disclosed. In addition, declarations could be falsified through deliberate transfer of assets to adult children of those making the declaration. There are many other ingenious means of falsifying asset declaration,” he said.
Ubani argued that the CCB, as an official watchdog of the nation, has failed to discourage corruption and maintain a high standard of morality in the conduct of government business.
He said the legal frameworks and institutional capacity to confront corruption in governance need to be strengthened.
The former NBA Chairman noted that Nigeria’s system is one of the weakest in the world relative to asset declaration by public officers.
“The country should have two independent institutions with one to deal with asset declaration data and the other to handle verification as done in Ghana.
“Annual or biennial asset declaration would also make it easier to monitor the growth of assets declared and check waste of time and resources that could have been deployed to more purposeful uses.”
Acknowledging the enactment of Freedom of Information Act to eliminate the culture of secrecy in government, the legal practitioner observed that certain constitutional provisions are antithetical to the efficiency of CCB.
He, therefore, urged the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, labour movement and social interest groups to mount pressure on the National Assembly to amend the extant law and ensure that people have access to the asset declaration of political office holders.
“What are our leaders afraid of if they claim not to be corrupt? The inference that can be drawn from their refusal to publicly declare their assets is that they have something to hide.
“Public officials are public ‘property; if they do not want to disclose their assets they have the option to quit.
“Submitting government officials to public scrutiny of assets will not only boost the confidence of the electorate in their leaders, but it will also reduce the incidence of corruption,” Ubani posited.
In his address, the State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Adedayo Adeneye commended the government at the centre led by President Muhammed Buhari for his efforts in trying to instill the virtue of transparency and accountability in governance.
Adeneye, who was chairman of the occasion, urged media professionals not to compromise on objectivity in the discharge of their duties.
According to him, “Let objectivity be your watchword because your message must increase the understanding of the people and decrease uncertainty.
“By doing so, you would become key players in the change mission of Ogun State and Federal Government,”D – One, as the Commissioner fondly called advised.