CCT
Chairman Danladi Umar
CCT
Chairman Danladi Umar
AFRICMIL Seeks information on asset declaration of Ag
CJN Ibrahim Tanko
The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy
(AFRICMIL), a non-governmental organization focused on good
governance and the promotion of accountability has applied to the
Code of conduct Bureau (CCB) for the asset declaration of the new
Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Justice Ibrahim Tanko
Mohammed JSC.
In a letter to the Chairman of the CCB and signed by its
coordinator, Chido Onumah, AFRICMIL stated that in making the
request, it relied on Paragraph 11, Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule to
the 1999 Constitution as amended, which states that “Subject to the
provisions of this Constitution, every public officer shall within
three months of the coming into force of this Code of Conduct
andimmediately after taking office and thereafter – (a) at the end
of the every four years; and (b) at the end of his term of office,
submit to the Code of Conduct Bureau a written declaration of all
his properties, assets, and liabilities and those of his unmarried
children under the age of eighteen years.”
“Pursuant to the aforementioned provision of the 1999
constitution, as amended, and Section 1(1) of the Freedom of
Information Act 2011 which states that, “Notwithstanding anything
contained in any other Act, law or regulation, the right of any
person to access and request information, whether or not contained
in any written form, which is in the custody or possession of any
public official, agency or institution howsoever described, is
hereby established,” we humbly request to be allowed to inspect and
obtain copies of the following documents, the letter noted:
The asset declaration of Honourable Justice Ibrahim Tanko
Mohammed JSC on his elevation as a Justice of the Supreme Court of
Nigeria;
The asset declaration of the Honourable Justice Ibrahim Tanko
Mohammed JSC on his appointment as Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria
by President Muhammadu Buhari.
In its concerted effort at advocating for increased transparent
and accountable governance in Nigeria’s public service, AFRICMIL,
on July 28, 2011, sent a Freedom of Information request to the CCB
asking “to be allowed to inspect and obtain copies of the 2007
asset declaration of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan; the asset
declaration of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan after the end of
his tenure on May 28, 2011; and his asset declaration when he
assumed office on May 29, 2011.”
On January 17, 2017, AFRICMIL in partnership with the Public and
Private Development Centre (PPDC) submitted Freedom of Information
requests to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) for the declaration of
assets of certain elected and appointed political office holders,
including the current president and vice president, their immediate
predecessors, past and current principal officers of the National
Assembly, past and current governors of the 36 states of the
country as well as past and current ministers since May 2011.
Although both organizations made these requests under the
Freedom of Information Act, 2011, the CCB failed to respond to any
of these requests within the time stipulated in the Act, thereby
leading to the filing of cases before the Federal High Court
requesting judicial action aimed at getting the Code of Conduct to
do the needful, in relation to the aforementioned FoI requests of
both institutions.
It is the sole responsibility of the Code of Conduct Bureau to
ensure that all public officers declare their assets at the
beginning and the end of their tenure in office. It is also their
responsibility to ensure that the assets declared are verified to
ensure compliance with the provisions of the law and also to
establish possible cases of misconduct or corrupt enrichment, with
a view to ensuring such culprits face the full wrath of the
law.
The CCB has the constitutional responsibility to retain custody
of such asset declaration forms and make them available and
accessible for inspection by any citizen of Nigeria on such terms
and conditions as the National Assembly may prescribe.
By enacting The Freedom of Information Act, 2011, the 7th
National Assembly gave effect to the constitutionally guaranteed
right of the public to access public documents held by public
institutions and relevant private entities in Nigeria and this
includes asset declaration forms of public officials, which are
public documents within the meaning of the FoI Act, 2011.
On April 3, 2017, Justice Abdu Kafarati, sitting in Court 2,
Federal High Court, Abuja granted the two civil society
organizations leave to bring substantive suits against the Code of
Conduct Bureau (CCB). The grant of leave followed the hearing of
the Motion Ex-parte filed by AFRICMIL and PPDC on the failure of
the CCB to provide information on the asset declaration of elected
and appointed office holders in the Jonathan and Buhari
administrations under the Freedom of Information Act 2011.
Justice Kafarati eventually gave judgement declining the reliefs
sought by the applicants in the respective cases. AFRICMIL and PPDC
appealed the judgement and the cases have been slated for hearing
at the Court of Appeal on February 20 and 21, 2019.
Chido Onumah
Coordinator