By Ben Ogbemudia
The Code of Conduct Bureau on Monday said that the Bureau can not be intimidated into not doing its constitutional duties as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution, no matter how highly placed the person is.
The Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee investigating the alleged N100 million Naira bribery by the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State , Senator Godswill Akpabio to officials of the CCB to assist Akwa Effiong (Sole Administrator, NDDC) fill and backdate his Assets declaration forms from 2012 till date, Hon. Johnson Agbonayinma said both the Minister for Niger/Delta and Effiong Akwa wrote to the Bureau asking for another day to appear before it.
“Yes, Godswill Akpabio wrote to us that he is a bit indisposed and seeks for an extension of the date of which we have granted; for Effiong Akwa , there was clash of date. The National Assembly Committee on Niger/Delta are currently with him in Port Harcourt for oversight function. He also wrote to us to explain change of date. so, all things being equal, we will get to the root of the matter.”
The Chairman Code of Conduct Bureau, Professor Mohammed Isah had earlier inaugurated an investigation panel where he stated that the exercise is in tandem with President Muhammadu Buhari’s policy on fighting corruption as well as promoting transparency and accountability in the conduct of government business.
The objective of the Assets Verification Committee is to thoroughly scrutinize the completed assets declaration forms of public officers to ensure accuracy.
” If anybody feels we are playing , they should remember Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen’s case with us at the Code of Conduct Tribunal over his Asset declaration infractions which are illegal under Nigeria’s code of conduct law. So, Allegation of Bribery Against CCB Officials for Backdating of Assets Declaration Forms of Akwa Effiong must be investigated seriously.
“On the 5th day of February, 2021, the attention of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) was drawn to the series of tweets on the Twitter handle of one Jackson Ude and an Online newspaper publication by pointblanknews.com to the effect that Mr. Godswill Akpabio (Hon. Minister of Niger Delta Affairs) allegedly paid the sum of N100 million Naira to officials of the CCB to assist Akwa Effiong (Sole Administrator, NDDC) fill and backdate his Assets declaration forms from 2012 till date.