Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has requested Mr<\/p>\n
Sam Saba, Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau \u201cto use your good offices and
\nleadership to urgently investigate current and immediate past high-ranking
\npublic officers named in the Panama Papers and others that are maintaining
\nand operating or have maintained and operated foreign accounts in other
\nsafe havens and secrecy jurisdictions, and to where appropriate refer such
\nofficers to the Code of Conduct Tribunal for prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organisation said that, \u201cWe would be grateful if the Bureau could
\nbegin to take these steps within 14 days of the receipt and\/or publication
\nof this letter. If we have not heard from you by then as to the steps the
\nBureau is taking to address the concerns raised in this letter, the
\nRegistered Trustees of SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to
\ncompel the Bureau to effectively discharge its constitutional and
\nstatutory mandates in this instance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter dated 8 April 2016 and signed by SERAP executive director
\nAdetokunbo Mumuni reads in part: \u201cSERAP believes that the Panama Papers
\nhave shown the extent to which public officers in the country are
\nconcealing their stolen wealth in safe havens and secrecy jurisdictions,
\ncontrary to the Code of Conduct for Public Officers which prohibits public
\nofficers from maintaining and operating foreign accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP hopes that the Code of Conduct Bureau will learn from the lessons
\nof the Panama Papers to combat the abuse of the asset declaration
\nrequirements and not wait for further international disclosures that may
\nimplicate even more public officers in corruption and money laundering.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP argues that unless high-ranking public officers who use safe havens
\nand secrecy jurisdictions to breach the fundamental requirements of asset
\ndeclaration are sanctioned, named and shamed, the credibility of the asset
\ndeclaration regime as a tool of preventing and combating corruption will
\ncontinue to be doubted, and Nigerians will continue to witness climate of
\nlack of transparency and widespread impunity of corrupt public officers in
\nthe country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP also believes that bodies like the Code of Conduct Bureau should
\nnow seize the opportunity and use its mandate to react to this
\ninternational scandal by taking concrete and proactive steps to address
\nincreasing breaches of constitutional provisions by high-ranking public
\nofficers. This action will be entirely consistent with the Nigerian 1999
\nConstitution (as amended), the law establishing the Bureau, and will meet
\ndemands by Nigerians for improvement in transparency regarding asset
\ndeclarations and sanctions of public officers for breaches.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEffective asset declaration regime can play an important role in
\ndetecting illicit enrichment and preventing corruption and avoiding the
\nkind of international embarrassment that the Panama Papers represents for
\nNigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP notes that the aims and objectives of the Code of Conduct Bureau
\ninclude the establishment and maintenance of a high standard of morality
\nin the conduct of public business and ensuring that the actions and
\nbehaviour of public officers conform to the highest standards of public
\nmorality and accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n
SERAP therefore asked the Bureau to:
\n1.Promptly, thoroughly and transparently investigate and where appropriate
\nand there is sufficient admissible evidence refer to the Code of Conduct
\nTribunal for prosecution current and immediate past governors of the 36
\nstates of the federation and the current and immediate past leaders of the
\nNational Assembly that are maintaining and operating and\/or have
\nmaintained operated foreign accounts while in office, including in safe
\nhavens and secrecy jurisdictions like Panama;
\n2.Promptly, thoroughly and transparently investigate and verify
\nhigh-ranking public officers\u2019 asset declaration forms including those
\nsubmitted by current and immediate past governors of the 36 states of the
\nfederation and the current and immediate past leaders of the National
\nAssembly to find out those who have made false declarations in order to
\ncover up assets illegally acquired in corruption or abuse of office;
\n3.Name and shame anyone found to have breached the Code of Conduct for
\nPublic Officers through the use of safe havens and secrecy jurisdictions
\nlike Panama, and refer such person to the Code of Conduct Tribunal for
\nprosecution;
\n4.Promptly, thoroughly and transparently investigate and prosecute former
\ngovernors who currently serve in the National Assembly after their
\n\u2018retirement\u2019 as governors and continue to receive remuneration from public
\nfunds in addition to their pension and emolument;
\n5.Promptly, thoroughly and transparently investigate, name and shame and
\nwhere appropriate and there is sufficient admissible evidence refer to the
\nCode of Conduct Tribunal for prosecution high-ranking public officers who
\nperform the functions of their offices before submitting their asset
\ndeclaration forms to the Code of Conduct Bureau. SERAP believes that since
\nthe declaration of assets precedes the taking of oath of office and oath
\nof allegiance, a fortiori, a political office holder cannot, strictly
\nspeaking, legally assume office before declaring his assets;
\n6.Work closely with other anti-corruption agencies to make it harder for
\ncorrupt public officers to access the international financial system such
\nas Panama to hide and enjoy their ill-gotten wealth
\n7.Promptly, thoroughly and transparently investigate and where appropriate
\nand there is sufficient admissible evidence refer to the Code of Conduct
\nTribunal for prosecution public officers using shell companies to hide
\ntheir identity and ill-gotten wealth. In cases of false declarations, the
\nCode of Conduct Bureau should publish an open list of the beneficial
\nowner\/controller of all companies and trusts;
\n8.Share information on asset declaration forms submitted by public
\nofficers with banks to prevent corruption-related money laundering<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP notes that provisions on the declaration of assets by public
\nofficers in Nigeria are entrenched in the Code of Conduct for Public
\nOfficers, contained in Part I of the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Nigerian
\nConstitution. These provisions aim to prevent corruption and abuse of
\noffice, to ensure transparency in public officers and to prevent
\nhigh-ranking public officers operating foreign accounts to hide their
\nill-gotten wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP also notes that acts prohibited by the Code include a public
\nofficer putting himself in a position where his personal interest
\nconflicts with his duties and official responsibilities; holding two posts
\nfrom which he is being paid from public funds; and operating foreign
\naccounts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Panama Papers are an unprecedented leak of 11.5m files from the
\ndatabase of the world\u2019s fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca.
\nThe records were obtained from an anonymous source by the International
\nConsortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The ICIJ then shared them
\nwith a large network of international partners, including the Guardian and
\nthe BBC. The documents show the myriad ways in which corrupt public
\nofficers including from Nigeria can exploit secretive offshore regimes to
\nhide their ill-gotten wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAmong national leaders and former and current public officers that are
\nreportedly mentioned in the Panama Papers are: Senate President, Senator
\nBukola Saraki; Senator David Mark and the former governor of Delta State,
\nChief James Ononefe Ibori. According to reports, Nigerian public officers,
\ntheir families and close associates are increasingly using safe havens and
\nsecrecy jurisdictions like Panama to hide their stolen assets.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has requested Mr Sam Saba, Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau \u201cto use your good offices and leadership to urgently investigate current and immediate past…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n