Just like most nations of the world, asset declaration is a legal responsibility of public office holders in Nigeria. Article 8 (5) of the United Nations Convention against Corruption provides that “each state party shall endeavor, where appropriate and in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, to establish measures and systems requiring public officials to make declarations to appropriate authorities regarding, inter alia, their outside activities, employments, investments, assets and substantial gifts or benefits from which a conflict of interest may result with respect to their functions as public officials”. Article 7 of the Africa Union Convention against Corruption “require all or designated public officials to declare their assets at the time of assumption of office, during and after their term of office in the public service”. The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria mandates public officers to “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 18 years. Also, Section 15 (1) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act provides that every public officer shall “submit to the Bureau a written declaration in the form prescribed in the first schedule to this Act, or in such form as the Bureau may from time to time specify, of all his properties, assets and liabilities and those of his spouse or unmarried children under the age of 18 years”. From the above legal instruments it is clear that every public officer in Nigeria is expected to declare his/her assets.
Section 3 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act provides that it is the function of the Code of Conduct Bureau to “receive complaints about non‐compliance with or breach of this Act and where the Bureau considers it necessary to do so, refer such complaints to the Code of Conduct Tribunal established by section 20 of this Act in accordance with the provisions of sections 20 to 25 of this Act”. The above provision of the law expects that the Code of Conduct Bureau will receive complaints from the public. However, the Code of Conduct Bureau does not make asset declarations of public officers to be public documents. Nigerians who have tried to get copies of the asset declarations of top government officials have met brick walls. How can the public send their complaints to the Code of Conduct Bureau if the public do not have access to the asset declarations of public officials? It is not possible to complain about something which you are ignorant of its existence. Consequently, there is a need for a new law to make asset declarations of public office holders to be public documents and protect the privacy of the declarants, while also addressing other relevant matters. The objectives of the new law would be to empower Nigerians to inspect asset declarations of public officers; to promote a culture of accountability, openness and transparency in public administration while protecting the privacy of public office holders; to promote public confidence in the integrity of public office holders; to promote efficient public administration and good governance. In order to promote the right of access to asset declarations, the new law should state that notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, the right of any Nigerian to access declaration of assets of public officers in Nigeria is hereby established. The new law should state that any person entitled to the right of access to asset declarations shall have the right to institute proceedings at the Code of Conduct Tribunal or at the Federal High Court to compel the Code of Conduct Bureau or any relevant person or authority to comply with the provisions of this new law. The new law should mandate the Code of Conduct Bureau to upload and arrange the asset declarations to the website in a manner that makes the declarations searchable by name, position, agency and any other relevant criteria. Also, the Code of Conduct Bureau should upon the expiry of the date due for declarations, prepare and display on the website or electronic portal, a comprehensive list of public officers who have declared their assets and those who have not. The new law should have provisions such that if the court of law is satisfied that the Code of Conduct Bureau did not publish a declaration of assets in its custody on the website, the court of law shall order the Code of Conduct Bureau to publish the same on the website. This new law will go a long way to promote transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s asset declaration system.
Martins Eke (08035066196) is a Programme Manager at the Centre for Social Justice
