Benin City – The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, is dissatisfied with the recent attempts being made by the Senate to amend the Act establishing the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, apparently to guarantee the independence and neutrality of the CCT. As things stand today, both the Code of Conduct Bureau and its tribunal are quasi-legal entities under the supervision of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF.
Commendable as the moves by the Senate may be, we find the attempt by the Senate to amend the Act establishing the CCB as ill-timed, ill-conceived and superficial. The leadership of the Senate is currently mired in corruption charges, and is being tried by the Code of Conduct Tribunal. While being arraigned, the Senate President had in tow over 70% of the Senators, who stood behind him at the CCT in an apparent show of solidarity. Not only that, Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki, has been fingered in the Panama Papers Leak as the owner of a number of companies operating in offshore tax havens.
‘The prevailing mood in the country now is for Mr. President to order the EFCC and the ICPC to probe all Nigerians that were fingered in the Panama Papers Leak, of which Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki’s name featured prominently. Let the Senate support the anti-corruption fight rather than a review of the CCB Act’, ANEEJ executive Director David Ugolor said.
ANEEJ organized a rally in Abuja, FCT in conjunction with several Civil Society groups in Abuja wherein CSOs called for a review of Nigeria’s anti-money laundering laws. Rather than asking for a review of the sections of the CCB Act which may be skewed in favour of the Senate president, the Senate should collaborate with the executive arm of government to develop and make public an asset recovery blueprint.
‘The Senate is seeking a leeway for the Senate President and this is truly unfortunate. The Panama Papers Leak showed how politically exposed persons and business men and women, for more than 40 years have been frittering the nation’s wealth to offshore tax havens at the detriment of Nigeria. Amending the CCB Act will be equivalent to sabotage of the interests of Nigeria’, Ugolor said.
