An Anti-corruption expert, Dr Emmanuel Uche, has called on the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to expand its operational scope beyond mere asset declaration to strict enforcement of ethical standards and mandates.
Uche, the Anti-Corruption Programme Manager for the European Union-funded Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC) programme, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
He spoke on the sidelines of a review of the CCB’s newly designed Online Assets and Liabilities Declaration System (ALDS), orgnaised by the Bureau in Abuja.
Uche said that while the digital migration of asset declaration is a significant step, the Bureau must prioritise its foundational objective, which is to mainstream ethical behaviour across the Nigerian public service and society.
According to Uche, asset declaration is merely a “tool” designed to achieve the broader goal of checking abuse of public office and trust.
“The fundamental objectives in the establishment of the CCB go beyond assets declaration. Assets and liabilities declaration is only but a tool that helps you to get to the foundational objective for the establishment of the bureau.
“The CCB’s job is not just asset declaration; it is about helping to mainstream ethical behaviour in society. A breakdown of the rule of law starts with the breakdown of the ethical value system.
“We are willing to take the Bureau beyond improving the assets and liabilities declaration system to also ensure that they increase their bar in setting ethical standards through enforcement and reprimand systems,’’ Uche said.
The expert highlighted the necessity of upgrading the declaration system to capture modern realities, noting that the definition of wealth evolves.
He noted that the system must be optimised to account for “non-conventional assets,” including crypto currencies and virtual assets, saying, wealth is no longer stored solely in “brick and mortar or gold bars.”
Speaking on structural reforms, Uche advocated for the unbundling of the CCB, noting that the current centralised structure is insufficient for a country with a population of more than 200 million.
“How do you have a CCB that can only prosecute in a Code of Conduct Tribunal of very few people, adjudicating over a country of 200 million people?
“The CCB, at some point, will need to be unbundled, even if it is to the zones, so that there will be critical capacity to deal with a country the size of Nigeria,” he noted.
Uche, commended the new CCB Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Usman, for his visionary leadership in transitioning the platform from a simple Asset Declaration system to an “Assets and Liabilities Declaration System.”
He explained that capturing liabilities was crucial to closing loopholes that allow public officials to hide unexplained wealth or game the system.
“You could declare assets and yet there will be big gaps that allow people to steal from the system if we don’t have a sense of how much liability we already have.
“Beyond the assets declaration, if we declare all the assets and yet nothing is done about enforcing the implications of malfeasance, then even the assets declared is not worth the paper on which it is written,” he added.
Uche, stated that future engagements with external stakeholders would focus on the theme “Beyond Asset Declaration”.
This according to him will specifically address how declarations are utilised to improve the economy and enforce consequences for unexplained wealth orders.
