UPDATE ON THE SENATE AND CODE OF CONDUCT AMENDMENT [MUST READ]

THE Senate is in the news again. Almost like always, the Red Chamber is in the news for the wrong reasons. The Upper Leg­islative Chamber appears to have incurred the wrath of the people, following its recent moves to whit­tle down the powers of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB). The fresh move by the Senate to transfer the control of both CCT and CCB from the Office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF) to the National Judicial Council (NJC) or the leg­islature may not augur well with the lawmakers who are fighting to save their embattled president, Dr. Bukola Saraki from an imminent conviction and eventual sack.

The bill seeking to whittle down the powers of CCB and CCT is tagged “Code of Conduct Act Cap C15 LFN 2004 (Amend­ment) Bill 2016”, and is sponsored by Senator Peter Nwaboshi from Delta State. Unlike in the past, the Senate is giving the bill an un­precedented accelerated hearing. Although it was read for the first time last Tuesday, the bill has al­ready scaled second reading and has been given the nod to go for a public hearing. If the Senate main­tains the current momentum, the bill maybe passed before the end of April this year, The Sun reports.

When the bill was first read last Tuesday, lawmakers had expected that civil society organizations and other interest groups would pro­test. Surprisingly, it did not cause any uproar. Then last Thursday, it was hurriedly read for the second time. As expected, the man of the moment, Saraki was absent during the consideration of the bill. It was however gathered that the Senate President was in his office in the National Assembly, but chose to boycott the day’s plenary in order to fence off criticisms that he is as­suming jurisdiction over his own case. The Deputy Senate Presi­dent, Senator Ike Ekweremadu presided in Saraki’s place.

During the peaceful consider­ation of the bill, lawmakers, who are predominantly core supporters of Saraki, hailed the proposal and called on the Senate to speedily pass the bill in order to restructure CCB and CCT for optimal perfor­mance. Senator Nwaoboshi who is the arrowhead, while defending the amendment bill, insinuated that he was on a rescue mission to save the judiciary from the grip of po­litical office holders.

He argued: “We want to save Nigerians from overzealous poli­ticians, the Code of Conduct Tri­bunal and the Code of Conduct Bureau now under the Office of the Secretary to the Government.

“The Secretary to the Govern­ment is a politician and can use it as a politician against political op­ponents or perceived political op­ponents. He oversees the CCB and the CCT. They report to his office. So, since the Supreme Court in their judgment has said that they are a court of some sort, they must be seen to be neutral in nature and to not report to a politician.

“What we intend by the bill, is to make it completely neutral, either move it to the judiciary or move it to the National Assembly that has the power to remove the Chairman and members of the tribunal. We do not want it to be reporting to a politician and being over sighted by a politician. It should be seen as an independent body, doing its job. So, we will give them what they are entitled to.

“Otherwise, one day like we are seeing now, if you are an enemy to the SGF, he will use the CCB to put you into trouble, charge you there like we are seeing now. So, to make it to be re­ally neutral and be independent, we are trying to save Nigerians. Any politician could be written to whenever he steps on the toes of the SGF.

“The intent is not because of what is happening, it is because we want to save Nigerians. We want Nigerians to see that you cannot put a quasi judicial arm under the control of the SGF who is a politician, appointed by the Presi­dent, doing political job, then you put him in charge.

“The CCB said you should declare your asset upon assumption of office and when you are leaving office, you declare your asset. Within the time you came to office and the time you are leaving office, they must have inves­tigated that your asset, what is left is to investigate the asset declared when leaving office.

“You do not just leave it for 100 years, then all of a sudden, someone wakes up and says 56 years ago, you did not declare your asset. That should not be so. You have been given a time frame to declare at the beginning and at the end, but within the four years, the CCB does not conduct its investi­gations immediately but takes another   15 years.

“Who says that someone cannot stand up tomorrow when President Buhari leaves office and says that he did not declare his asset at a particular time? The court has said that it made a mistake in Tinubu’s case which means another political party can come up tomorrow and pick up Tinubu.

“Do you now see the patriotism in what I am doing? There should be a time frame, not when you wake up any day, you just slam anybody. I am doing this as a patriotic Nigerian to make sure this body is not used as a political weapon to witch hunt your political opponents or an individual.

“I would not shy away as a result of what people would say to do what I think is right for the Nigerian people. My duty is to the Nigerian people. We should not leave a sensitive organ like that under the whims and caprices of a politician who is the SGF. It should be left in the hands of the judiciary or the legislature.”

Senator Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West), while commenting, said, CCT had deviated from its original mandate. He said it had delved into criminal prosecution and therefore called on his colleagues to support the bill.

He said: “The Act has delved into criminal prosecution. Another section I am particularly interested in is that, there must be three judges before the tribunal can sit. As of now, there are only two judges. Laws are made to suit the peculiarities of the moment.”

Senators Jibrin Barau from Kano State, Sam Anyanwu from Imo State and Bukar Abba Ibrahim from Yobe State, all spoke in favour of the bill. While Barau maintained that there is need to shape the country’s laws in order to ensure fairness in our judicial system, Anyanwu argued that it was the duty of lawmakers to amend laws whenever the need arises. “I am not sure there is any lawmaker that has anything against this bill. Let us just go ahead and put it to a vote,” Abba Ibrahim said.

Senator Biodun Olujimi from Ekiti State opined: “We are licensed as Senators to look at laws and see how we can make them better. Right now, we have a situation that is bad and the Act is being used inconclusively. This Bill should go to the committee so that they can act on it.”

But a lawmaker from Kebbi State, Yahaya Abdullahi, opposed the timing of the amendment bill. He warned his colleagues to be mindful of public perception, adding that it could be erroneously interpreted to mean that amendment is hurriedly being muted in order to frustrate the ongoing trial of Saraki. Senator Abdullahi is not one of the core antagonists of Saraki, but he was the only opposing voice that spoke against the timeliness of the amendment bill. Ironically, Senators who are members of Unity Forum kept mum throughout the duration of the debate on the bill.


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