Code of Conduct Bureau chair refuses to release details of Buhari's assets despite order

CODE of Conduct Bureau (CCB) chairman Sam Saba has confirmed that his agency refused to publish details of President Muhammadu Buhari's assets publicly despite him giving them instructions to do so.

 

Elected ion an anti-corruption platform, President Buhari assumed office in May last year and one of the first things he did was to publicly declare his assets. He asked his deputy vice president Professor Yemi Osinbajo to do likewise but for weeks, the CCB delayed making the details public.

 

Mr Saba added that even now that the details have been made public, his bureau will not release the document to the public despite the president advising it to do so on national television. He added that the organisation is largely a preventative organisation and it is just there to ensure that the rules are adhered to.

 

"What most people do not understand is that the CCB is different from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). Cases that are referred to these other agencies concern offences that have already been committed, while on other hand, the CCB is largely a preventive organisation.

 

"Is it going to make news to you today for me to say that 30 people have not declared their assets or that we have sent 20 names to the tribunal for default in filing their asset declaration forms? I have discovered over this period that Nigerians love a situation where they hear that this person or that person has been caught and taken to prison but that is not the nature of this agency," Mr Saba added.

 

He added that the CCB  was established to maintain good public service and they do that in various ways. He added that one of these ways is through asset declaration, one is through public enlightenment and the third method is through sanctions.