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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Crime & Justice

Lawyer insists on public asset declaration by govs, legislators, judges

From The Punch · (7m ago) English Critical tone

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • A Nigerian law professor is advocating for mandatory public asset declarations by governors, legislators, and judges, arguing current processes are insufficient.
  • Professor Kazeem Olaniyan proposes linking the Code of Conduct Bureau's database with land, bank, and corporate registries for real-time verification.
  • He criticizes the current system for enabling selective prosecution and concealed corruption, calling for transparency and public access to asset declarations.

Professor Kazeem Olaniyan, a distinguished legal scholar at Fountain University, Osogbo, is championing a significant reform in Nigeria's fight against corruption: mandatory public asset declarations for all high-ranking public officials. He argues that the current system, managed by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), is under-resourced and prone to manipulation, failing to serve as an effective deterrent.

many asset declarations are still processed manually, making cross-referencing with databases such as the Bank Verification Number and the National Identification Number difficult.

— Kazeem OlaniyanProfessor Olaniyan describing the limitations of the current manual asset declaration process.

Olaniyan's proposal centers on enhancing the CCB's capabilities through digitalization and integration. He calls for linking the CCB database with critical national registries, including the Land Registry, Bank Verification Number (BVN), and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) databases. This would enable real-time, automated verification of assets, making it significantly harder for officials to conceal illicit wealth.

That secret asset declarations create conditions for concealed corruption. Justice in the public sector cannot be effectively served behind closed filing cabinets. In light of these concerns, there is a compelling need for mandatory public disclosure.

— Kazeem OlaniyanProfessor Olaniyan arguing for the necessity of public asset disclosure.

"Secret asset declarations create conditions for concealed corruption," Olaniyan stated during his 8th inaugural lecture. He pointed to past cases, such as those involving ex-Senate President Bukola Saraki and ex-Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen, suggesting that asset declaration laws have been weaponized against political opponents rather than applied uniformly. This selective application, he contends, undermines public trust and the integrity of the justice system.

an amendment to the Code of Conduct Bureau Act to make public declaration the default, rather than the exception, is necessary. Linking the Code of Conduct Bureau database to the Land Registry, Bank Verification Number and Corporate Affairs Commission databases to enable real-time automated verification should be implemented without further delay.

— Kazeem OlaniyanProfessor Olaniyan's specific recommendations for reforming the asset declaration process.

To foster genuine transparency, Olaniyan advocates for making public disclosure the default, not the exception. He also proposes granting civil society organizations and the media statutory rights to inspect and publish the asset declarations of top officials. This increased scrutiny, he believes, is essential for ensuring justice in the public sector and holding those in power accountable.

It is therefore submitted that the current process of asset declaration in Nigeria i

— Kazeem OlaniyanProfessor Olaniyan's concluding remarks on the state of asset declaration in Nigeria.
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Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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