Two civil society groups say the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has denied their Freedom of Information requests demanding access to written assets declaration of current and past elected and appointed officials.
The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) and the Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC) in three separate FOI requests between January 18 and February 6 demanded access to assets declared by public office holders from 2011 till date.
AFRICMIL wanted assets declared before CCB by principal officers of the National Assembly before their assumption of office and after exit, according to release by PPDC communications lead Ugochi Ekeueme and AFRICMIL’s Godwin Onyeacholem.
PPDC requested access to assets declared by all 36 state governors and all ministers going back to 2011, as well as that of former president Goodluck Jonathan, former vice president Namadi Sambo and current President Muhammadu Buhari and vice president Yemi Osinbajo.
Public office holders have to declare their assets at the start and end of their tenure before the CCB.
The bureau verifies the assets and keeps custody of asset declaration forms which it has to make available for inspection by any citizen, said PPDC.
“It is also their responsibility to ensure that the assets declared are verified to ensure compliance with the provisions of the law and also to establish possible cases of misconduct or corrupt enrichment, with a view to ensuring such culprits face the full wrath of the law,” said both organisations in a statement.
The FOI Act, passed by the 7th National Assembly, guarantees public right to access public documents held by public institutions and relevant entities in Nigeria.
Requests drawn on the strength of the Act to be answered within specific periods.
AFRICMIL and PPDC routinely put out FOI requests to public institutions but is yet to get response from CCB.
CCB ranked 12th in the latest FOI compliance ranking by PPDC for not proactively disclosing public information and taking up to seven days to respond to FOI request.
