Ministers, service chiefs, government officials and civil servants have been called upon to declare their assets, in compliance with paragraph 11 of part 1 of the 5th schedule to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) or risk prosecution at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT.
The Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, Sam Saba, handed this directive in a statement where he commended civil servants who declared their assets within the time frame set by the bureau.
He, however, reiterated that the CCB will go round the country to verify assets already declared by public officials.
Recall that the CCT Chairman, Justice Danladi Umar, had approved the itinerant session of the Tribunal at Akwa Ibom state, for trial of some Senior Public officers who breached the code of conduct ethics. The session is due to hold from the 6th to 9th of December, 2016.
Saba’s statement reads, “Pursuant to paragraph 11 of part 1 of the fifth schedule to the 1999 Constitution (as amended), every public officer is required to submit to the CCB a written declaration of all his 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.
“Any statement in such declaration that is found to be false by any authority or person authorised in that behalf to verify it shall be deemed to be a breach of this code.
“To this end, the Bureau has commenced its 2016 fourth Quarter Cycle of conference and field verifications of assets of top public officers.
“Accordingly, letters of invitation have been dispatched to ministers of, service chiefs and other top public officers.
“This exercise is ongoing and is being carried out concurrently at the federal, state and local government levels.
“At a satisfactory completion of the exercise, public officers are issued with certificate of assets conference verification/field verification as the case maybe.
“CCB however, commends those public officers, who honoured its invitations promptly and submitted themselves for the exercise.”
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