No political motive in CJN Onnoghen’s trial – CCB chairman

Professor Isah Mohammed was on November 7, 2018 appointed the
chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB). In this interview, he
says the prolonged strike by staff of the bureau delayed the filing
of charges against the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter
Onnoghen. He also explains the workings of the bureau and other
issues. Excerpts:

The CCB has come under the spotlight in recent days with
several definitions of its jurisdiction. To clear all
misconceptions, what is the CCB all about?

The bureau is an agency, which is an establishment of the
Constitution of 1979 through to the 1999 Constitution as amended,
under Section 153. The mandate of the bureau is as prescribed under
the Third Schedule of the constitution. It is mandated to
administer the declaration of assets by public officers, and keep
custody of declarations of assets. It is also mandated to verify
such assets as declared by public officers. It is mandated to
receive complaints and investigate those complaints and where a
public officer is found wanting of non-compliance with the Code of
Conduct for Public Officers, such findings of the bureau could be
referred to the Code of Conduct Tribunal. This is the mandate of
the bureau.

Who is a public officer?

The Third Schedule Part Three of the Fifth Schedule of the Code
of Conduct Bureau Act defines who is a public officer. There are
about 12 paragraphs describing who is a public officer. We take it
in a nutshell, this ranges from the President down to the last
civil servant of Grade Level 1. This also includes judicial
officers. Insofar as you are in the service of the government of
the federation or of a state, or local government, you are a public
officer for the purposes of Code of Conduct under the mandate of
the bureau.

There are Codes of Ethics under Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule and
these are the code of conduct that every public officer must
observe. And the bureau is mandated to monitor compliance with
those codes of conduct on the public officer. These are actually
what the bureau does.

On the CJN, did you at any time monitor and supervise
investigation into his asset declaration before the bureau referred
him to the CCT?

This issue I think is now in the court and also in the public
domain. When we have done, we put it together and file it in court
for the determination of the court. This is a matter I want for the
time being, and for CCB being a party in that case, to restrict
myself from saying much on anything about it.

Are there other public servants that the CCB is
investigating to ensure they comply with the regulation on asset
declaration?

There are a number of civil servants we are monitoring. We
receive complaints and intelligence reports and we work on that and
also, we monitor. And so, in any way we gather information about
any breach or violation, or non-compliance with the Code of Conduct
for Public Officers we take appropriate action in the circumstance
of each case.

Can you comment on the delay in filing the CJN’s case
because some of the allegations happened some years back and why is
it that it is at this time it is coming up?

The timing or whatever, we were inaugurated on November 7th,
2018 and when we came in here the whole bureau was grounded because
the workers were on strike and nothing was happening. So, what we
did is timely because within the period of two months, we were able
to do what you saw.

I don’t think there is any issue of delay, it is where we met
something that is where we started. And even before we stabilised
the internal problems we were having here, it is something that
maybe one would have to consider and also the troubles we take to
arrive at where we are today.

Look at the mandate of the bureau and the time limit we arrived
here, and you can judge for yourself whether there is any political
motive in this whole thing.

Did the bureau thoroughly conduct investigation on them
before going to the CCT?

It was thoroughly investigated as required by law. We shouldn’t
have gone to court if we know we don’t have a case.

Does your Bureau always wait for an infraction of the
law before going into action or take other proactive steps to
ensure that public officers declare their assets without going to
CCT; must you punish the offender?

The issue of punishment is about the law. It is not about the
bureau; the law has set up everything. This law creating CCB is the
same law that creates CCT. Both CCB and CCT are a creation of the
constitution and created by one single Act of the National
Assembly.

The law is clear that if the officer accused admits, then the
bureau does not have to take him to CCT. On the issue of whether to
take any further step or not, each case has its own
circumstance.

How did the petitioner, the Anti-Corruption and Research
Based Data Initiative (ARDI), have access to those documents on the
CJN that has now gone public?

This is not the question for the bureau. It is not our duty to
know how it got about those things. We saw them and we acted on
them. Simple.

On the welfare of your staff and the strike, how is the
situation now?

I am just from the National Salaries, Income and Wages
Commission and I met with the chairman in relation to that. Ever
since I came in, I have been making effort to see how we are going
to improve the welfare of the staff. This is very much at my heart
and I will never relax until I see that I achieve success on that,
I assure you.

How is your relationship with other investigative
agencies such as the EFCC and ICPC with the overlaps that occur
sometimes?

Our relationship is very cordial. The law is very explicit on
our mandates.

Culled from Daily Trust