ABUJA — Nigerians who are itching to see the net worth of
President Muhammadu Buhari and his vice, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, may need to wait
a bit longer, as the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, which keeps custody of the
assets declared by the two leaders, says it lacks the power to make them public
for now.
Chairman of the CCB, Mr. Sam Sada, who spoke exclusively to Vanguard
through his Special Assistant, Mr. Gwimi Sebastian Peter, said only the
National Assembly is vested with the powers to decide the terms and conditions
under which such documents could be made public.
The chairman said even though the Constitution of Nigerian
made it clear that the agency should make available to the citizens the assets
declared by public officials, the same law vested the National Assembly with
the power to decide the terms and conditions for making such materials public.
Sada explained that the CCB was ready to comply with the
terms and conditions specified by the National Assembly on the matter but would
only do so once the law was amended.
He said: “While the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria (1999) and the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act give the bureau
powers to receive assets declarations, verify, examine, keep in custody and
enforce compliance when there is a breach, the responsibility of determining
how and on what terms asset declarations will be made accessible to the public
was left to the National Assembly.
“Several National Assemblies have come and gone since the
establishment of the CCB without addressing the matter.”
Lacuna in FOI Act
When his attention was drawn to the provisions of the
Freedom of Information Act, which makes it compulsory for the CCB to make
available to media houses and other interested Nigerians the assets of public
officers, the chairman said the FOI Act could not override the provisions of
the Nigerian Constitution.
He said that there was a lacuna in the FOI Act, which makes
it difficult for the bureau to make public the assets declared by public
figures.
Regarding what Buhari and his vice submitted to the agency,
the chairman said while it was rather too early for Nigerians to ask the
President and his vice to make public their assets, it was necessary for them
to exercise some patience and see what the two leaders would do after having
voluntarily filed their assets with the CCB.
What the constitution says
Sub-section 3c of Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution
actually takes away the right it intended to give to the CCB to publicly
display the assets of public officers by stipulating that only the NASS can
decide the terms and conditions for making such assets public.
The section is yet to be repealed many years after it was
made.
The same section also seems to have rendered impotent
Section 4 of the FoI Act 2011, which states: “A public institution shall ensure
that information referred to in this section is widely disseminated and made
readily available to members of the public through various means, including
print, electronic and online sources, and at the offices of such public
institutions.”
Buhari and Osinbajo had last week secretly filed their
assets with the CCB, thereby reneging on the pledge by the President to
publicly declare his assets if elected into office.
But some aides of the President argued last night that
Buhari might make a public declaration of his assets as his administration
takes shape in the days to come.
They argued that the declaration of their assets by the two
men was to demonstrate their determination to break away with the opaqueness
that had attended government activities in the past and pave the way for
change.
By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North
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