The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has called on the National Assembly to intervene in the operations of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel (SPIP) for the Recovery of Public Property, with a view to ensuring it acts within the ambits of the Law.
Head of the Department of Investigation and Intelligence of the Bureau, Mr. Simon Abu, made the call at the resumed public hearing by the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee investigating the legality and modus operandi of the SPIP.
A situation where the panel go on rampage, demanding public officers to fill assets declaration form was unconstitutional. It negates Sections 1 and 3 of the Constitution, as the panel seeks to enforce the provisions of the Code of Conduct as contained in the fi fth schedule to which has already been taken care of by the establishment of the Bureau. “In as much as the panel exists, it should be cautioned against abuse of human rights.
They should operate under the law,” he said. Earlier, in his presentation, the Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr. Anthony Ayine, alleged that the panel had requested him and directors in his office to fi ll assets declaration form. “On February 14, 2018, our office received a letter from this panel addressed to me as a person and all my directors requesting that we fill assets declaration form. In the letter which I will oblige this committee the language was not only commanding and directing but was also confrontational and I wasn’t comfortable with that.
“And on February 21, 2018, I decided to write to the AttorneyGeneral and Minister of Justice seeking advice because I wasn’t comfortable because the constitution is very clear that in the discharge of my duties I take no directives from anyone.
I failed to honour the request because the language of the letter was too commanding and confrontational,” he said. Chairman of the Committee, Ahman Pategi, said his understanding of the working of the panel was that “while the CCB and Code of Conduct Tribunal maintain a high standard of morality and accountability among public officers through assets declaration, the SPIP is to conduct specific investigations into the performance and assets of specified public officers.”
