The Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Abdullahi Bello, has disclosed that the bureau 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.
Bello made the disclosure in Abuja on Wednesday at an anti-corruption and asset-tracing stakeholders’ workshop organised by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) in collaboration with the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa.
According to him, the CCB has moved beyond simply receiving asset declaration forms to scrutinising declarations, investigating suspected violations and prosecuting offenders.
“We are not submitting forms anymore. Now, we’re examining the forms, we’re also investigating, and we’re also prosecuting,” he said.
Bello said the bureau’s verification exercise had focused particularly on high-profile public officials.
“We have interviewed and verified the relations of more than 20 ministers, 30 permanent secretaries, 32 health agencies, and other high-profile individuals,” he said.
He explained that public officers are invited to the bureau for face-to-face examination of their records as part of the verification process.
“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, 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 CCB chairman stressed that the bureau does not have to wait until the end of an official’s 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.
Speaking at the workshop, HEDA Executive Secretary Arigbabu Sulaimon said the meeting was designed to strengthen inter-agency collaboration, intelligence sharing and the role of civil society 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 three key institutional objectives.
He identified the first objective as “bridging interagency silos and fostering civic synergy,” emphasising the importance of effective information sharing between government agencies and civil society organisations.
He also called for greater utilisation of the Proceeds of Crime Act and the CCB’s statutory mechanisms to trace and recover illicit assets.
On whistleblower protection, the HEDA executive secretary advocated stronger safeguards to encourage individuals to provide information on corruption and other criminal activities.
