A Professor of Jurisprudential Criminology at Fountain University, Osogbo, Osun State, Kazeem Olaniyan, has called for more purposeful use of the Code of Conduct Bureau, insisting on public declaration of assets by governors, legislators and judges.
The university don, who currently serves as the Dean, College of Law of the institution, stated this while delivering the 8th inaugural lecture of the university.
The legal expert, in the paper titled “The just, justice and the judicial: A Jurisprudential journey in the judicial jungle,” a copy of which was obtained in Osogbo on Monday, sought amended of CCB law, to enable linking the Code of Conduct Bureau database to the Land Registry, Bank Verification Number, and Corporate Affairs Commission databases.
Describing the Code of Conduct Bureau as an under-resourced watchdog institution in the country’s justice sector, Olaniyan expressed concerns that “many asset declarations are still processed manually,” making cross-referencing with databases such as the Bank Verification Number and the National Identification Number difficult.
He also noted selective prosecutions by the Bureau, referencing the trial of ex-Senate President, Bukola Saraki and the removal of ex-Chief Justice of the Federation, Walter Onnoghen, through the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
He further said those cases highlighted a pattern in which asset declaration laws were deployed as a “death blow” against political adversaries, rather than a standard administrative mechanism applied uniformly to all public officers.
He subsequently argued, “That secret asset declarations create conditions for concealed corruption. Justice in the public sector cannot be effectively served behind closed filing cabinets. In light of these concerns, there is a compelling need for mandatory public disclosure.”
He specifically demanded “an amendment to the Code of Conduct Bureau Act to make public declaration the default, rather than the exception, is necessary. Linking the Code of Conduct Bureau database to the Land Registry, Bank Verification Number and Corporate Affairs Commission databases to enable real-time automated verification should be implemented without further delay.
“This will facilitate the digitalisation and integration of all CCB records. In addition, granting civil society organisations and the media a statutory right to inspect and publish the asset declarations of high-ranking public officials, including the President, Governors, legislators, and judges, is a welcome and necessary reform.
“It is therefore submitted that the current process of asset declaration in Nigeria is largely ineffective. It protects the privacy of public officers at the expense of the integrity of the state. To move from a landscape of injustice to one of accountability, private declarations must become public, and documentation must be transformed into credible prosecutorial evidence.”
The submissions by the lawyer came at the time the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, was invited by the Code of Conduct Bureau, following a Premium Times investigation that alleged that the judge failed to declare several bank accounts as required by law, potentially breaching Nigeria’s Code of Conduct regime.
In a statement issued by the Director of Information of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Catherine Christopher, the court said the CJ remained fully committed to cooperating with the bureau in respect of its invitation.
The report by the Premium Times, based on documents and interviews, claimed that in an asset declaration submitted to the CCB on April 29, 2024, Justice Tsoho did not list at least three United Bank for Africa accounts and one Access Bank account in his name, omissions that, if proven, violate Section 15 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.
Under the law, public officers must declare all assets, liabilities and accounts, including domiciliary accounts.
False or incomplete declarations can attract sanctions, including removal from office, disqualification from public office for up to 10 years, and forfeiture of improperly declared assets.
The CCB’s invitation to Justice Tsoho was reportedly issued as part of the agency’s response to those findings, though officials have not publicly detailed the specific allegations.
