Kayode ShopekanCHAIRMAN of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Professor Muhammed Isa has charged all public officers to declare their assets.
Isa made this call at a meeting with the Registrar-General of Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Alhaji Garba Abubakar on Friday, when the CCB received permission from the Commission to use information from it’s database in carrying out it’s investigations on companies suspected to be carrying out fraudulent activities.
Isa expressed satisfaction with the support and cooperation the CCB had received from the Registrar-General since his assumption of office.
He said, “In view of emerging trends in company law, there was a need for more robust collaboration between the two agencies to unravel the identities of those perpetrating various economic crimes in the country.”
Speaking on the mandate of CCB, Isa said it was empowered under Part 1 of the 3rd Schedule to enforce the Code of Conduct for Public Officers enshrined under Part 1 of the 5th Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Isa stressed that the CCB was among others, empowered to enforce asset declaration as one of the 14 Code of Conduct for Public Officers and added that Conflict of Interest, Bribery, Abuse of Office, Double Remuneration, Operation of Foreign Accounts and Membership of Secret Society among others were all under their purview.
He described Asset Declaration as the life wire of corruption fight to all Anti-Corruption Agencies and therefore charged Public Officers to declare their assets accordingly as the measure was also meant to protect their interest
On his part, the Registrar-General of the CAC, Abubakar said the commission was exploring more areas of collaboration particularly in real-time with other agencies.
He stressed that in view of CAC’s strategic collaboration with other anti-corruption Agencies including the EFCC, ICPC and INTERPOL among others, the commission has established a dedicated unit to expeditiously handle requests for information and other services.
Abubakar, revealed that the commission was working assiduously for integration with the National Identity Management Commission’s database to enable it validate the identity of anyone applying to register a Company in order to eliminate incidences of submitting cloned copies of means of identification to the CAC.
The CAC boss, therefore, reiterated his commitment to ensuring continued synergy and collaboration with the CCB and other anti-corruption bodies in a bid to strengthen the anti-money laundering and anti-corruption initiatives of the Present Administration.
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