President Goodluck Jonathan has declared his assets and has no case to answer, Dr Sam Saba, the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), has said.
“As far as we are concerned, Mr President has declared his assets, though not publicly.
There is no law that says that you should declare your assets publicly; it simply states that you should declare your assets.
President Goodluck Jonathan
“What is important is that he has declared his assets and when we go through his form and we discover any area that is questionable, then we will take him to court,” he said.
Saba spoke through Alhaji Ibrahim Manzo, the Federal Commissioner representing North West in the Bureau, who represented him at a Compliance Training Workshop for Public officers on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said the Bureau was doing its bit, but that the public was not doing its own part by refusing to blow the whistle on defaulters.
Saba, who noted that the fight against corruption is the collective responsibility of all patriotic Nigerians, said Nigerians should wake up to the task.
He said the aim of the training was to sensitise public officers to the importance of assets declaration and what was required of them while filling the form.
“If they know what they are being asked and how to answer correctly, it will lessen our work and reduce the burden of taking people to court for non-compliance,” he said.
He said that education was the key to understanding any issue, and that the Bureau organised the enlightenment programme in the hope that the National Universities Commission (NUC) would help in sending the message across through education.
Prof. Julius Okojie, the Executive Secretary of the NUC, said the bane of corruption in the country
was lack of provision of basic necessities of life and lack of knowledge of basic societal norms.
Okojie said that an individual’s behavioural pattern was determined by the society because “what the society defines as right, is what the people follow’’.
“We know that there are issues, but we must endeavour to be on the side of truth.
When we learn to be honest and stand on the side of truth, this country will be better for all of us.’’
Alhaji Kabir Mashi, the Acting Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, described the compliance programme as “a very good and noble development”, adding that with interaction, there would always be a better understanding of critical issues.
He said that there were many questions that were yearning for answers concerning the responsibility of the public regarding the CCB operations and what was required of the citizens.
Mashi, who said the programme would help in understanding the Bureau, gave the assurance that FIRS would ensure compliance with the Bureau’s requirements.
Mr Abdullahi Dikko, the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, who was represented by Comptroller Nuhu Isa, urged the public to be proactive by declaring their assets instead of waiting to face the law.
Dikko said that with compliance training workshop, people would know more and would want to do the right thing.
The workshop was organised by CCB in conjunction with the NUC.
