The Code of Conduct Bureau has completed the verification of asset declarations submitted by 108 high-risk public officials, including ministers, permanent secretaries and heads of government agencies, as part of efforts to strengthen accountability in public service.
The Chairman of the CCB, Dr. Abdullahi Bello, disclosed this on Thursday during the graduation ceremony of the second cohort of Agora Policy’s Policy Writing Fellowship and the unveiling of the Local Governance Accountability Portal and Policy Registry in Abuja.
According to Bello, the verification exercise covered 19 ministers, 37 permanent secretaries, 20 heads of agencies and 32 other senior public officials.
He also announced that the bureau’s Online Asset and Liabilities Declaration System had been fully developed and was ready for deployment and testing.
The platform is expected to serve as a central database for asset declarations of public servants across the country.
Bello said the bureau had intensified enforcement efforts, leading to the forfeiture of several assets, including a property in London, while a number of cases had been referred to the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
He revealed that the Chief of Staff to a state governor was recently arraigned before the tribunal, describing the action as evidence of the bureau’s commitment to holding public officers accountable regardless of status.
Also speaking at the event, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, represented by the commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwujaren, described the portal as a game-changer in promoting transparency and accountability at the local
