Make asset disclosure a public document

The 1999 Constitution in S 53 makes provision for the Code of Conduct Bureau while in paragraph 3 (c) of the Third Schedule, Part 1 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, provides that the Code of Conduct Bureau shall make assets declarations of public officers available for inspection by any citizen of Nigeria only on terms and conditions prescribed by the National Assembly.

Also, the Freedom of Information Act (2011), S.1(1), 3 and 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2011 guarantees the right of a person to access or request information whether or not in written form, in the custody of any public agency.

Conversely, by virtue of sections 12 (1) (a) (v), 14 (1) (b) and 15 (1) (a) of the same Act, the Code of Conduct Bureau has power to decline a request which constitutes invasion of personal privacy.

Assets declarations by public officers contain such personal information, which falls within the exemptions to the disclosure of information in the FOIA. It then becomes imperative for the National Assembly to enact a law in line with the 1999 Constitution as stated above that guarantees for public access to asset disclosure.

Asset disclosure could be made accessible when details of asset declared by public servants are published on the website of the Code of Conduct Bureau. This should be searchable by name position, agency and other criteria that facilitates identification of specific public officers and downloadable and printable from a personal computer.

The details of asset declared should remain on the website of the Code of Conduct Bureau throughout the service time of the public servant and four years after before proper archive. Also a citizen seeking for such information does not need to demonstrate any specific interest in the information being sought for.

Making asset disclosure a public document is in line with the principles of open government. This will promote a culture of accountability, openness and transparency in public administration.

It will also promote public confidence in the integrity of public office holders and facilitate good governance. Most public servants have flouted the provisions of the CCB and the directive issued by the president for all government workers in Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to declare their assets upon resumption of duties and to update it after every four years.

There is no strong monitoring mechanism and sanctions for erring public servants who have failed to comply with the directive, thus making it difficult to stamp out ongoing fraud in the public service.

It is public knowledge that majority of the un-occupied buildings in most part of the country are owned by public servants. Findings also reveal that some senior public servants operate business in proxies to which they utilize to perpetuate procurement mal-practice through their agency.

The Bank Verification Number exercise has also helped to trace both local and foreign accounts owned by these senior public servants, utilized for money laundering. In line with the president’s agenda to enthrone good governance and fight against corruption, the president should work with the National Assembly to facilitate the enactment of the law to make asset declaration a public document.

This will further help the law enforcement agencies and interested citizens to trace and report public servants who live above their means.

Before the enactment of the law, it is also expected that the Code of Conduct Bureau grant access to interested public access to information on asset declaration of public servants using the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act provided it doesn’t breech the security and privacy of the public office holder.

Victor Emejuiwe,

 [email protected]

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