Fury as NASS takes control of CCB/CCT

By Henry Umoru, Ikechukwu Nnochiri, Wabab Abdullah Dapo Akinrefon & Joseph Erunke

ABUJA – THE Senate, yesterday, passed the Code of Conduct (amendment) Bill 2016, with the National Assembly taking over the power to appoint staff of the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB and Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, from the Presidency.

If assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari, powers of the Presidency to make rules and regulations for the bodies would automatically be transferred to the National Assembly.

The National Assembly has, with this, taken over the powers that were hitherto vested in the President in the extant laws of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.

The amendment drew hard knocks from some senior lawyers and leaders, who accused the legislators of carrying out the exercise in bad faith.

This came as the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, yesterday, declined to quash the 16-count charge pending against Senate President, Bukola Saraki, before the CCT.

The Senate carried out an amendment of section 18(1) and (2) of the Act.

Section 18 (1) and (2) of the CCB/CCT Act under power of exemption state thus: “The President may by order exempt any cadre of public officers from the provisions of this Act if it appears to him that their position in public service is below the rank which he considers appropriate for the application of those provisions.

“The President may by order confer on the Bureau such additional powers as may appear to be necessary to enable it discharge more effectively the functions conferred upon it under this Act”.

It would be recalled that criticisms trailed the CCB and CCT being under the direct supervision of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF.

The Senate in its amendment of the Act, earlier passed by the House of Representatives substituted “President” with the “National Assembly” in section 18(2), reading “to enable the National Assembly do the conferment of additional powers (if need be) on the Bureau instead of the President” and “him” with “it” in section 18(1)

The President’s power on appointment of chairman and members of the tribunal as contained in Section 20 (4) of the Act, was also whittled down by the lawmakers by subjecting such appointments to the confirmation by the Senate.

With the passage, CCB and CCT heads will now be reporting to the National Assembly.

CCB to inform defaulter before going to CCT

Another amendment effected in the Act which drew emotions from senators was Section 3(d) which now makes it compulsory for CCB to bring to the notice of any public officer, any case or breach or non-compliance to the provisions of the Act before resorting to the tribunal for prosecution as it did with the ongoing prosecution of Senate President Saraki over alleged false assets declaration.

The amendment also reduced the tenure of chairman and members from serving until they are 70, to a term of five years.

The first term of five years in office was, however, subject to renewal for one further term only, making a total of 10 years maximum.

Defaulter to resolve breaches at CCB without going to tribunal if….

Another major amendment to the Act is where non-compliance or breach of the provisions are settled between the CCB and the defaulter without going to the tribunal.

“Provided that where the person concerned makes a written admission of such breach or non-compliance, no reference to the Tribunal shall be necessary.”

Highlight of the amendment read: “To make it compulsory for any case of breach or non-compliance to be brought to the notice of the person concerned by the CCB to enable him or her, make a written admission of such breach or non –compliance and where such is done, there shall be no reference to the Tribunal.”

Increases membership to five

Aside that, membership of the tribunal as contained in section 20(2) of the principal act was also increased from three to five and, at least, three of the five members must be present at any sitting. Before the amendment, only the chairman could adjudicate over cases.

Although, actual amendments to the Act were done by the House of Representatives and passed on May 31, the Senate concurred with the House and passed the bill, yesterday.

In the amendment,  the Bureau will first invite the person suspected of falsely declaring his asset for clarification before taking the person to the Tribunal.

Section 4 (2) was also amended to substitute the word “President” with “the National Assembly” as the one to appoint members of staff of the Bureau and exercise disciplinary control over them.

Section 1 (4) was deleted and replaced with: “The Chairman and members shall serve for a term of five years subject to renewal for one further term only.

“(E) upon complaint(s) of any breach or where it appears to the Bureau that there is a breach of the provision of this Act, any person concerned shall be given particulars of such non-compliance or breaches to explain before any reference to the Tribunal.”

Recall that the Upper Legislative Chambers had previously stepped down the consideration of the bill owing to the public outcry that followed the move.

It’s not debate between NASS, Executive—Presidency

Reacting to the development, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang, said the Clerk to the National Assembly, after the harmonization between the Senate and the House of Representatives, would transmit the decision to the President.

He said until that happens, “ I do not comment or engage on the content, it is not a debate between the Executive and the National Assembly.”

Pro-Saraki, anti-Saraki senators clash

There was a clash between pro and anti-Senate President Saraki legislators (Senators of Like Minds and Senate Unity Forum) during the amendment, especially Section 18(2).

While Senators Ahmad Lawan (APC, Yobe North); Barnabas Gemade (APC, Benue North East); Abdullahi Adamu (APC, Nasarawa West); Abdullahi Yahaya (APC, Kebbi North), etc, kicked against passing the bill, others such as Senators Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna Central); Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP, Abia South); Peter Nwaoboshi (PDP, Delta North); Chukwuka Utazi (PDP, Enugu South), etc supported the passage of the bill.

The motion of Senate Leader, Ali Ndume (APC Borno South), to step down further consideration of the bill by the Senate, was rejected by the pro-Saraki senators.

Ndume in his motion said: “Before we put this on the order paper, actually it originated from what the chairman said because it is a House bill, which is before us for concurrence…but I observed that emotions were rising, which is human. So I now move the motion that in view of emotional outburst of senators over consideration of this bill, that it should be stepped down to another legislative day.”

Contributing, Senator Adamu Abdullahi, APC, Nasarawa West said: “My observation is simple. At this point in time, the bill is clearly provided for by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the functions therein. I am not comfortable with our making any legislation that will run contrary to the provisions of the Constitution.”

Senator Shehu Sani, APC, Kaduna Central said: “We have already moved to discuss this bill. Laws are not made for individuals and for a specific period of time, they are made for posterity, for future generations. We all will some day stand to account for the laws we make in this Chamber and I believe it will be suspicious of Nigerians to start this process now and midway we stop it. There is no controversy in it, what is right is right. What is wrong is wrong. We are not making laws for the convenience and comfort of somebody whether in or out of government. Since we have wisdom to table this, we should have the courage to see it through.”

Senator Ahmed Lawan, APC, Yobe North said: “The Senate is a moderator on legislation. This bill emanated from the House of Representatives and our colleagues there passed it. I agree totally with the submissions of some of our colleagues here that we don’t have to tarry to pass it.

“We will be doing ourselves and this National Assembly a better service if we step down this thing, move on with some other things that will make this a better bill only when we convince ourselves that what we are trying to do is not for our sake. When we legislate, we legislate for maybe centuries and we legislate dispassionately not for ourselves.”

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, PDP, Abia South said: “The matter has been properly canvassed and I concur with my distinguished former chairman of the PDP and what he has pointed out. I concur fully that we shouldn’t go into making subsidiary legislation because it is not proper.”

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the session said: “This bill came as a House bill and like other House bills, we have to concur. In reference to this, we decided to send it to the committee so that they can have another look at it, we would have passed it that same day but we sent it to the committee and it came up this morning.

“The question was put whether we should consider it and the answer was yes. So, we didn’t just consider it because we wanted to consider it, the question was properly put whether we should go to the committee on the whole House to consider it and everybody said ‘yes.’

“Now we are taking it clause by clause but we have not jumped to any particular clause; sometimes we take two or three clauses but, here, because of the sensitive nature of this, we are taking it clause by clause and we are even bending over backwards to reconsider issues. So it will be unfair to us to accuse ourselves here of being unnecessarily hasty and that is not fair to this Senate. So, if the Leader wants to change his mind about reconsidering the bill, I don’t have problem with it. But we should not create the impression that there is any haste in reconsidering this bill and we have followed the rules to the letter up to this moment.”

A-Court declines to quash charge against Saraki

Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal in an unanimous decision by a five-man panel of Justices, held that Saraki’s appeal against his trial lacked merit.

Head of the panel, Justice Abdul Aboki, who read the lead judgment, held that the CCT has the requisite jurisdiction to hear and determine the charges against the appellant.

The court said the appeal gave the impression that the Senate President was avoiding being tried at all cost.

It directed the appellant to return to the tribunal to answer to the case the Federal Government entered against him and consequently dismissed the appeal marked CA/A/172c/2016.

Saraki had through his legal team led by a former Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN, gone to the appellate court to query the legal propriety of the 16-count criminal charge the Federal Government slammed against him.

He challenged the jurisdiction of the Justice Danladi Umar-led tribunal to try him on the basis of a charge he said was incompetent and legally defective.

The charge borders on his alleged false/anticipatory declaration of assets, money laundering, operation of foreign accounts while in office as the governor of Kwara State and allegation that he collected salaries as a governor, four years after his tenure had elapsed.

Saraki prayed the appellate court to set aside a ruling the tribunal delivered against him on March 24.

The tribunal had in the said ruling, maintained that it has the requisite jurisdiction to hear and determine the case before it.

In his nine grounds of appeal, Saraki contended that he was denied fair hearing by the CCB, which he said did not give him the opportunity to clarify alleged discrepancies in the assets he declared as a public officer.

He further challenged the powers of the Attorney General of the Federation to usurp the function of the CCB, by personally endorsing the charge pending against him before the tribunal.

It was his argument that the AGF lacked the powers to initiate charges before the CCT.

Saraki told the appellate court that he was not served a pre-action notice, which he described as a condition precedent before a charge is entered against anyone at the CCT and queried the action of the government in filing charges against him 13 years after he had exited office as a governor.

However, in its judgment, the appellate court dismissed all the nine grounds Saraki raised against his trial.

The court equally dismissed a cross-appeal the Federal Government filed against Saraki’s appeal for being incompetent.

CCT Amendment done in bad faith  – SANs

Reacting to the amendment of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act by the Senate, some senior lawyers said the transfer of controlling powers of both the CCB and CCT from the Presidency to the National Assembly was done in bad faith. They argued that the amendment is “suspicious” as it is coming at a time Senate President Saraki is facing trial before the CCT.

Mr. Yunuz Uztaz, SAN, said: “The amendment of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act by the Senate, transferring control of the CCB and CCT from the Presidency to the National Assembly was done in bad faith. We should be very careful in the way we usurp powers, bearing in mind that it is not only the National Assembly and the Presidency that own this country. It belongs to all of us.

“I am not comfortable with the amendment because it is not going to, in anyway, enhance proceedings at the tribunal. The amendment was not carried out in good faith. Moreover, all the pending cases can only be tried upon the old law that was in operation before the amendment. No amendment can be backdated or take retroactive effect. That is our law! If they are doing it for the purpose of affecting Saraki’s case before the CCT, then they should from the onset understand that it will not work.

“Was Saraki charged under the new law? The answer is No! I really don’t like the quarrel between the NASS and the Executive. They should understand that this country belongs to all of us”.

Also, Sebastian Hon, SAN, posited that the Senate has a moral burden to convince Nigerians that it did not carry out the amendment to massage its ego.

His words: “The National Assembly is the law making arm of the government. Under Section 4(1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, it is imbued with the power to make laws for peace and good governance of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“It also has the power to amend existing laws. However, the tenor of this amendment shows that it was made ad-hominem, that is, a legislation targeted to satisfy personal ego. To that extent, the Senate has the moral burden to convince Nigerians that the amendment is not done in bad faith.

“To most Nigerians, the amendment is suspicious, even though they have the powers to amend existing laws. Such important laws are not amended to satisfy or massage ego of the legislature. To me, it is a political amendment, given what has been happening to the Senate President. By so amending the CCT Act, they have now enthroned the supremacy of the legislature. However, I envisage the President vetoing the law, in which case, the Senate may come back to still pass it by overriding the President.

“Clearly, this will further create friction between the Legislature and the Executive. For me, the timing of this amendment is wrong and suspect. But I cannot condemn them. It will certainly be tested in the court of public opinion.”

It’s self serving  – Ajulo

A legal practitioner, Mr Kayode Ajulo said, “it is self-serving and the president is urged not to assent to it.”

It’s an absurdity – Olapade Agoro

Former Presidential Candidate of the National Action Council, NAC, Dr Olapade Agoro described the move by the Senate as absurd.

He said: “That is an obnoxious law passed by the Senate. Already, it is established that the Senate President, Bukola Saraki has a running battle with the CCT. The Senate is trying to be its own judge in its own matter. In fact, if others are not ready to challenge it, I will challenge it in court. It is an absurdity. It shows that the Senate President would do anything against the rule of law. I want every right thinking Nigerian to rise against this absurdity.’’

Corruption is fighting back – Joe Igbokwe

The Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos State, Mr Joe Igbokwe said corruption is fighting back.

‘’Corruption is fighting back and this is a war the National Assembly cannot win. The war against corruption is total, unstoppable and will be brutal and if need be, ruthless. I hope that the incubus and the vestiges of the PDP left in the National Assembly will see the need to allow President Buhari complete the leadership he has started.”

The Court cannot be under the presidency—Yusuf Ali

Mallam Yusuf Ali, SAN, said: “The Supreme Court  recently said the Code of Conduct is actually a court and if it is, and considering the principle of separation of powers, the president shouldn’t have any control over the Code of Conduct Tribunal.  How do we now consider the CCT/ CCB to be under the Presidency? So, it shouldn’t be under the presidency. All other courts are under the control of the National Judicial Council, NJC. I think that was what the National Assembly has done.”

President should withhold assent— Ojo

Dr Gbenga Ojo, Law lecturer, Lagos State University, said: “Whatever the motive or the feeling in amending the Acts, the timing of the amendment is extremely wrong. My take is that the President should withhold his assent to the bill. Of course, it will go back to them and they may veto it. However, it will be on record that he (President) never signed it.

“When there was no problem with the  Code of Conduct Tribunal, there was no move to amend the Act of the CCT, now with the case of the Senate president pending before the Tribunal, it makes the amendment political and  unreasonable.”

Amendment is to cover corruption of lawmakers—Adindu

To Mr. Adindu Ugwuzor, “the lawmakers are making this move since they knew that majority of them would be charged under the same Act for non disclosure as required by law. As it is now, they are amending these laws to suit their own purpose. That is not the intention of the Constitution in creating the legislative body. They have not made laws in respect of the welfare of the poor masses of this country.

“They are amending the law to cover up the iniquities and massive corruption they are allegedly involved in.”

The Nigerians should rise and reject the amendment. The law is amended to protect the masses not to protect the public officers from declaring the assets which were not genuinely acquired. So, this to me is made to cover the massive corruptions of the National Assembly and this is not acceptable to Nigerian.”

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