For the first time, CCB met with punishment, confiscated property, funds from public officials

The Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) Abdullahi Bello, claimed that the bureau for the first time since its inception succeeded in securing the conviction and confiscation of property and funds from public officials who violated the code of conduct.

Bello disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday at an anti-corruption and asset tracing stakeholder workshop organized by the Human Development and Environment Agenda in collaboration with the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa.

Bello, who did not provide a timeline, or details of the sentence, or the property and funds confiscated, said “for the first time in the life of the CCB, we were able to do that”.

According to him, the Bureau has investigated and verified the assets of more than 20 ministers and 30 permanent secretaries as part of efforts to strengthen the accountability of public officials.

Bello said the CCB has moved beyond simply accepting asset declaration forms, but also vetting declarations, investigating alleged violations and prosecuting violators.

“We no longer submit forms. Now we are checking forms, we are also investigating, and we are also carrying out prosecutions,” he said.

The bureau chief said the bureau focuses its verification efforts on high-level public officials.

“We have interviewed and verified the relationships of more than 20 ministers, 30 permanent secretaries, 32 health institutions and other important figures,” Bello said.

He said the bureau invites public officials to its offices for face-to-face examinations of their records.

“One of the main things we do is, once you declare your assets at the start of the term, we verify it; then we’ll wait for you at the end of the term, and we’ll verify that as well.

“If you notice a discrepancy between the beginning and the end, which can only be explained by your non-social income, then we will investigate and prosecute you,” he said.

He emphasized that the CCB can initiate an investigation before the end of an official’s term of office if there are allegations or intelligence information.

“But that doesn’t mean we have to wait for you to finish serving before we can investigate. If there are allegations against you, we can also investigate. Or if there is intelligence about you, we can also investigate it,” he said.

Bello described asset tracing as critical to the bureau’s anti-corruption efforts.

“Asset tracing is not a side issue. This is where the investigation becomes ongoing,” he said.

Bello said the provisions of the Code of Ethics provide for sanctions including removal from office, disqualification from holding public office and confiscation of assets obtained through violations.

“If you look at the prohibitions on the Code of Ethics, there are three major penalties for violating the Code of Ethics. The first, you can be banned from holding office for 15 years. You can be dismissed from office. And finally, the assets you obtain from the violation can be confiscated to the government,” he said.

Speaking at the workshop, HEDA Executive Secretary, Arigbabu Sulaimon, said the meeting aimed to strengthen inter-agency collaboration, intelligence sharing and the role of civil society in fighting corruption.

Sulaimon said the workshop was “conceptualized not just as a platform for speeches, but as a technical work session” to achieve three core institutional goals.

He said the first goal is to “bridge inter-agency silos and encourage community synergy,” stressing the need for effective exchange of information between government agencies and civil society organizations.

“Achieving full accountability requires the seamless exchange of real-time intelligence among our key military and law enforcement agencies,” Sulaimon said.

He added that civil society organizations can contribute to the investigation through grassroots monitoring and open source intelligence.

Sulaimon also called for greater use of the Proceeds of Crime Act and the Code of Conduct Bureau’s legal mechanisms in tracking and recovering illicit assets.

He further urged authorities to make asset declaration a more effective tool for detecting illegal enrichment and abuse of public office.

“Furthermore, we must change the code of ethics that we use after the declaration process, from a routine and limited one to a dynamic and verifiable mechanism to detect early signs of illegal enrichment and abuse of public office,” said Sulaimon.