Sitting from the left, the Executive Director Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, Mr Auwal Ibrahim Musa; D.G. Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Prof. M.T. Ladan; Chairman House Committee on Ethics and Privileges, Hon. Kolawole Lawal; The Chairman Code of Conduct Bureau, Prof. Isah Mohammed; and the Deputy Chairman House Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development, Hon. Vincent Ofumelu with other participants during a One Day Training in Partnership with the House of Representative Committee on Ethics and Privileges on the Code of Conduct for Legislators at the BON Hotels, Asokoro, Abuja…over the weekend Photos by Abayomi Adeshida
By: Abayomi Adeshida
Elected Public Officials, their appointees as well as senior public servants would soon be availed the opportunity to fill the Assets declaration forms online as the Code of Conduct Bureau has surmounted its staffing, budgetary allocations and other challenges that had impeded its optimal service delivery in the country since its establishment.’
This information was contained in the submissions of The Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau, Prof. Isah Mohammed during a presentation he made to participants at the One Day Training Workshop organised by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, in Partnership with the House of Representatives Committee on Ethics and Privileges on the Code of Conduct for Legislators in Abuja over the weekend.
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Speaking at the event sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, Prof. Mohammed revealed that, “the assets declaration forms would be made available online by the end of this year because we have looked beyond the problems that have bedevilled our service delivery and we have resolved to put all. efforts into digitalizing our operations,” he told the participants.
he highlighted the challenges of the agency which include the fact that “our agency is one of the institutions of government with the least budgetary allocation in each budget cycle of the country.
“Our staff strength is another challenge because, across the country, we have less than eight hundred staffers who are catering for the entire over seven million public officers which include those elected, their political appointees as well as senior civil servants in government establishments.
“We also have needs in the area of proper training of our staff who are grossly inadequate so that they can meet up with what we expect them to do, even as we are in need of for accommodation for our staff across the country.
“The CCB is tasked with the responsibility to create awareness and enlightenment for public officers to comply with the code of conduct as enshrined in the constitution. It also has enforcement power to ensure compliance with code of conduct of public officers as well as ensure due process is followed in public procurement, it has powers to receive complaints, petitions, gather intelligence, investigate and prosecute where a public officer is indicted.
“There are two ways to get rid of our problems, the fear of God or the fear of our laws but in Nigeria, none is exiting, people do things with impunity,” Prof. Abubakar stated.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), CISLAC, Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani described as worrisome and scandalous the discovery of undistributed COVID-19 palliatives in various warehouses in most states across the country.
According to him, ” the training was organized to update the knowledge of the committee members on the role and responsibilities they have especially as the country has introduced through the ICPC national policy on ethics.
“One of the major challenges we have is that of Assets declaration in the country hence the decision for us to get the sponsorship of the MacArthur Foundation to have the code of conduct bureau share perspective with members of the House of Representatives.
“We believe that this committee is one of the most important if it will be allowed to work because it will guide the behaviour and conduct of members of the National Assembly because we are aware that they can only be celebrated if they live by ethical values.
“We believe that the interactive session will go a long way in terms of helping them carry out their responsibility. We know their task is not welcome because they are the police of their colleagues, they can sanction anybody not adhering to ethical conducts. It is a powerful committee, it may not be considered as lucrative to members but the work they are doing is lucrative to Nigerians, it is their work that will ensure proper governance, legislative and ethics compliance.
“So for Nigerians, it is an important committee that needs to be supported at all levels and at all costs; and that is why CISLAC is happy to continue to engage with this committee to provide them with information and tools and also create linkages and synergy and that is why the presence of ICPC, Nigeria Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and Code of Conduct Bureau clearly shows the synergy that the committee needs in order to continue to show exemplary leadership,”Rafsajani said.
While making brief remarks, representative of the MacArthur Foundation, Oladayo Olaide, declared that the foundation in the last five years has been involved in supporting efforts in the fight against corruption.
” Nigerians admitted that the country’s biggest single challenge facing the county is corruption and it didn’t matter how much it voted to any particular sector until it is dealt with, we will not see the fruits.
“Our budget has grown astronomically but in terms of human development indices, we continue to struggle to make Nigerians feel a sense of development that impact their lives. That is why the foundation has continued to work with government and civil society
“We commended the ICPC for the bold steps the agency is taking to introduce reforms in the fight against corruption which the foundation is working with and also EFCC as well as the code of conduct bureau.
“Today, we are struggling with issues put together by the nation’s young people. The protest started with an end to police brutality but we have all seen that it moved to broader issues of governance, well being, national unity and stability.
“I think the National Assembly has a major role to play in this. There can be no greater expression of leadership than leadership that shows integrity and that is why I think this meeting is so important because I see a strong connection between what we have been trying to do and the issues that are facing us as a country, the demands that have been put on the table by young people.
“The demand is that we need to reform and give them a sense of belonging but a sense of belonging will start from what they see as exemplary leadership. We, therefore, wish to commend the committee’s chairman leadership that has so far been demonstrated in the partnership with CISLAC.
“Discussions about integrity and ethics is not something that is popular more so in government offices. It is not something that people are always excited or at ease to talk about. So being able to demonstrate and show openly the commitment to this needed to be commended.
“Ethics and privileges committee does not fall into the category of the juicy committee, your work puts you at odds, at risk of being called out by your colleagues, so for those of you in this committee we need to commend your strength and courage for doing this work.
“We had some concerns when CISLAC approached the MacArthur foundation. One is that while it’s easy to put down the code of ethics, the challenge, however, is how to operationalize it. But we were assured of the committee’s commitment to see to the operationalization of the guidelines.
“So we are saying that this is the commitment that was made and so at the end of the contract, our consultant will evaluate and establish the extent to which this commitment has been realized.
“We want to plead with the ethics and privileges committee and all anti-corruption agencies, that there are several outstanding integrity bills in the floor of the National Assembly.
We kindly urge you to give attention to these important bills.
“One is the Federal Audit Bill. It is one of the most crucial legislations that has been in the National Assembly, it’s been there for quite a while. There is the Whistle Blower Bill that has been at the National Assembly for a while.
“The importance of these bills cannot be overemphasized. There have been Proceeds From Crime Act Bill and then of recent management or mismanagement of recovered assets. Recovery of assets became a major issue if we had a focal bill in place probably that problem would have been dealt with.
“Finally, elections have become the single biggest issue in our country. Bills to reform electoral act are also at the National Assembly. we want to crave your kind indulgence to give attention and priority to these bills, in our effort to strengthen democracy and also give the sense of belonging and begin to build the trust of the general populace in the National Assembly and in every democratic institution in our country.
When he took his turn to speak, the Chairman, House Committee on Ethics and Privileges, Hon. Kolawole Lawal admitted that it’s not easy to be in the committee because some people believe it’s not a juicy committee.
He however assured that, ” we believe that integrity is the best compared to being in any juicy committee. We are committed to doing what we are supposed to do as members and commend members for accepting to write their names in gold. Integrity is about doing what is right and demonstrates that one is upright.
“Benefits is that it provides a set of principles that are designed to help us as members discharge our responsibilities honestly and with a sense of integrity, which in essence means it’s about behavioural change in public service. It enables lawmakers to hold themselves to high ethical standards which is consistent with the legislative mandate as captured in section 64 of the constitution.
“It also helps to hold lawmakers accountable and do what is right. It will also make lawmakers advocates of the fight against corruption, performance legislative functions as well as the entire public life of the citizens of Nigeria, as well as erase the negative perception of the country in the international community and accelerate the development of the country.
