By Suleiman U. Yusuf
Should anti-corruption officials be mandated to publicly declare their assets? This is a question begging for answers in view of allegations and proven instances of re-looting of recovered stolen assets by same officials in the forefront of the battle.
This, among other issues is one of the major challenges facing the Federal Government’s fight against corruption and why substantial success seemed not to be visible to many Nigerian citizens at home and abroad.
In his view, Dr Martins Idachaba of the Department of Law, Prince Abubakar Audu University (formally Kogi State University), Anyigba, says the law does not compel a public officer to declare his or her assets public because once the form is picked, filed and assets declared and the form is submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau, it suffices.
According to him, a public officer who goes to the public domain to let the whole world know about what he has acquired over the years is only performing a moral duty and not a legal duty as the legal duty begins and ends with the Bureau.
He said that Section 318(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) defines public service of the Federation in any capacity in respect of the Government of the federation and that by virtue of the 5th schedule part 1 section 11(1) of the 1999 Constitution, at the beginning and end of the tenure of the four year tenure of either an elected or appointed official, he or she is expected to submit to the code of conduct Bureau a written declaration of all of his properties and assets.
However, there are issues of public perception about the integrity of the officials of these anti-corruption agencies owing to allegations that some recovered loots and forfeited assets are being re-looted by the officials.
This is evident in the fact all previous Chairmen of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), except Nuhu Ribadu have been accused and investigated for corruption during and after their tenure in office as anti-graft czars.
In the case of the immediate past Chair of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), accused the former of fragrant abuse of office and infractions numbering about 22.
One of such allegations leading to Magu’s suspension was alleged failure of the commission under his watch to ensure probity, accountability and transparency in the management of the recovered assets of which President Muhammadu Buhari set up the Presidential Committee on Audit of Recovered Assets (PCARA).
According to the allegation, the final report of PCARA that covered the period of May 29, 2015 to Nov. 22, 2018 has confirmed contradictory recovery figures emanating from the Acting Chairman adding that conflicting figures were being circulated in the public space by EFCC as the amount of recovered funds.
It was alleged that most of the forfeited assets were sold secretly or having no proper record and recourse to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing that had the mandate to undertake evaluation of such properties. It was also alleged that some of the assets were taken over by officials of the commission while some are sold at giveaway prices to my friends and cronies.
It was further alleged that Magu maintained different accounts including using proxies who return the benefit of the sold assets to him and that the proceeds of the purported sales were used to acquire properties in the name of his proxies. Magu however, denied all the allegations.
Now, asset declaration has been a legal obligation on every public official, whether as a civil servant or political office holder in Nigeria. It is an established measures and systems requiring public officials to make declarations to appropriate authorities regarding their investments, assets and substantial gifts or benefits from which a conflict of interest may arise with respect to their office as public officials.
Nigeria is one of the countries in the world that has adopted Asset Declaration as a means of curbing official corruption by enacting legislation such as the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) Act as a measure to ensure compliance.
Further efforts by the federal government to tackle the menace of corruption by public office holder, public servants and even other individuals in Nigeria led to the establishment of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in Sept. 2000 and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2003 with Establishment Act 2004.
Overtime, a number of public officials and politically exposed persons have been docked at the CCT following allegations of non-declaration or false declaration of assets with some found guilty and some acquitted by the tribunal. The case of the former Governor of Lagos State, Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2011 and that of the former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki in 2017 are still fresh in minds.
In both cases, the two former governors and top politicians were cleared of false asset declaration allegations by the tribunal. However, some other persons like the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe was found guilty of the charges against him.
According to the World Bank, more than 150 countries have introduced asset disclosure requirements for their public officials. Many of these countries make asset declarations available for public scrutiny. Public access to declarations multiplies their anti-corruption value, as civil society and journalists often play a crucial role by uncovering irregularities and triggering formal verification of declarations by anti-corruption/asset declaration agencies.
It has been argued that public disclosure of the private assets of public officials and family members does not clash with the rights to privacy and data protection. Both rights are not absolute and can be restricted provided there is a basis in law and a legitimate public interest justifies the restriction. Prevention of corruption and exposing unexplained wealth of officials are serious and legitimate public interests.
In Nigeria, late President Umaru Yar’Adua and his vice then, former President Goodluck Jonathan publicly declared their assets. Some eight years after, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo showed similar examples based on moral conviction and legal compulsion.
Several civil society organisations have at many times called on political office holders especially ministers and governors to make public disclosure of their assets using Freedom of Information Act (FOI) without success. Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and many others have made frantic effort to achieve this but met brick wall because of the absence of the law.
The Chairman of CBB had in 2021 disclosed that the bureau had never honoured citizens’ requests for information on asset of public officials because the National Assembly had yet to give the guidelines for such public disclosure as provided for in the constitution.
In 2020, SERAP sued the CCB, asking the Federal High Court in Lagos, to compel the bureau to provide the asset details the officials after failed attempts to get the officials to disclose their asset information. CCB opposed the suit, insisting it had no power to provide the details without legislation made by the National Assembly.
Delivering judgement on the matter, the court agreed with CCB’s position and held that “the duty to make the asset declaration form of public officers available depends on the terms and conditions to be prescribed by the National Assembly.
Therefore, until there is such a legislation, we can only appeal to the conscience of the anticorruption officials to make their asset declaration public on moral grounds so as to redeem the image and reputation of the anti-graft agencies for optimal performance.
There is need for the government to take the bull by the horn and give CBB the legal power to publish assets declaration of public officials to allow citizens access to such information with particular reference to officials of anti-corruption agencies in the country.
Heads of Anti-corruption agencies should also take a moral stand by publicly declaring their assets as an example to the officers working under them.
Suleiman U. Yusuf is a Kaduna based Management Consultant.