By Opeyemi Adelakun
The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has investigated and verified the assets of more than 20 ministers and 30 permanent secretaries as part of efforts to strengthen accountability among public officers.
CCB Chairman, Abdullahi Bello, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at an anti-corruption and asset-tracing stakeholders’ workshop organised by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda in collaboration with the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa.
Bello said the bureau had moved beyond merely receiving asset declaration forms, noting that it now examines declarations, investigates suspected breaches and prosecutes offenders.
“We are not submitting forms anymore. Now, we’re examining the forms, we’re also investigating, and we’re also prosecuting,” he said.
The CCB chairman said the bureau had focused its verification exercise on high-profile public officers.
“We have interviewed and verified the relations of more than 20 ministers, 30 permanent secretaries, 32 health agencies, and other high-profile individuals,” Bello said.
He explained that public officers were invited to the bureau for face-to-face examination of their records as part of the verification process.
Bello said the CCB would compare an official’s assets at the beginning and end of tenure, with significant unexplained changes potentially triggering further investigation and prosecution.
“One of the key things that we do is that, once you declare your assets at the beginning of your term, we verify it; then we’ll wait for you at the end of your term, and we’ll also verify it.
“If you see any difference between the beginning and the end, that can only be explained by your non-social income, then we investigate you and prosecute you,” he said.
The chairman stressed that the bureau did not have to wait until an official completed their tenure before commencing an investigation.
“But it doesn’t mean that we have to wait for you to finish office before we can investigate you. If there is any allegation against you, we can also investigate. Or if there is intelligence against you, we can also investigate,” he said.
Bello described asset tracing as a critical component of the bureau’s anti-corruption work.
“Asset tracing is not a side issue. It’s where investigation becomes persistent,” he said.
He also disclosed that the CCB had secured convictions and obtained the forfeiture of properties and funds linked to breaches of the Code of Conduct.
“For the first time in the life of CCB, we have been able to do that,” he said.
According to Bello, breaches of the Code of Conduct can attract sanctions including removal from office, disqualification from holding public office and forfeiture of assets acquired through such breaches.
“If you look at the prohibition of the Code of Conduct, there are three major punishments for Code of Conduct breaches. First, you can be banned from office for 15 years. You can be removed from office. And then finally, the assets that you acquire from a breach can be forfeited to the government,” he said.
Speaking at the workshop, the Executive Secretary of HEDA, Arigbabu Sulaimon, called for stronger collaboration between government agencies and civil society organisations in the fight against corruption.
Sulaimon said the workshop was “conceptualised not merely as a platform for speeches, but as a technical working session” aimed at advancing inter-agency cooperation, intelligence sharing and civic participation in anti-corruption efforts.
He stressed the importance of effective information sharing among government agencies and civil society organisations.
“Realising full accountability requires seamless real-time intelligence exchange among our primary military and enforcement bodies,” Sulaimon said.
He also urged authorities to strengthen collaboration with civil society groups, noting that grassroots monitoring and open-source intelligence could provide useful leads for criminal investigations.
“Importantly is forging strong operational pipelines with civil society organisations whose grassroots tracking and open-source intelligence tools provide invaluable leads for criminal investigation,” he said.
Sulaimon called for greater use of the Proceeds of Crime Act and the CCB’s statutory mechanisms to trace and recover illicit assets.
“Operationalising the Proceeds of Crime Act, POCA, is essential to ensure that confiscated assets are not only effectively recovered, but managed and disposed of with absolute public transparency,” he said.
He further urged the authorities to make asset declaration a more effective mechanism for detecting illicit enrichment and abuse of public office.
“Furthermore, we must transform the code of conduct we use after the declaration process from a routine and restricted exercise into a dynamic, verifiable mechanism for detecting early signs of illicit enrichment and public office abuse,” Sulaimon said.
On whistleblower protection, the HEDA executive secretary said stronger safeguards and secure reporting channels were needed to encourage people to provide information about corruption and other crimes.
“Whistleblowers remain the single most effective catalyst for uncovering criminal crimes. Yet, without robust statutory protections and safe reporting mechanisms, courageous individuals remain vulnerable to retaliation,” he said.
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