Posted by Tobi Soniyi, Emmanuel Obe and Ijendu Iheaka on
The Code of Conduct Bureau on Thursday dragged three governors before the Code of Conduct Tribunal for prosecution for allegedly violating the provisions of the Code of Conduct Act on the operation of foreign accounts.
The Code of Conduct Bureau on Thursday dragged three governors before the Code of Conduct Tribunal for prosecution for allegedly violating the provisions of the Code of Conduct Act on the operation of foreign accounts.
The three governors are Alhaji Rashidi Ladoja (Oyo State), Chief Orji Kalu (Abia State), and Alhaji Saminu Turaki (Jigawa State).
But two of the governors, Kalu and Ladoja, denied operating foreign accounts.
The Governor of Jigawa State, Turaki, could not be reached as at press time.
A statement signed by the Head of Information and Public Relations of the tribunal, Mr. Suleiman Haruna, said 32 others would also be tried for default in declaring their assets.
The statement reads, 'The Bureau has submitted to the Tribunal a list of three governors, one special adviser from Delta State and 31 other defaulters for prosecution.
'The governors of Oyo, Abia and Jigawa States are accused of breaching the Code on the operation of foreign accounts."
Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution deals with the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.
Section 11(1) of the schedule says, 'Subject to the provisions of this constitution, every Public officer shall within three months after the coming into force of this code of conduct or immediately after taking office and thereafter at the end of every four years and at the end of his term of office, submit to the Code of Conduct Bureau, a written declaration of all his properties, assets and liabilities and those of his unmarried children under the age of 18 years.
'Any statement in such declaration that is found to be false by any authority or person, authorised in that behalf to verify it, shall be deemed to be a breach of this code."
Section three of the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, Part 1, forbids the operation of a foreign account by a public officer.
The schedule reads, 'The President, Vice President, governor, Deputy Governor, Minister of the Government of the Federation and Commissioner of the governments of the states, members of the National and of the Houses of Assembly, and such other public officers or persons as the National Assembly may by law prescribe, shall not maintain or operate a bank account in any country outside Nigeria."
The power of the Tribunal to try errant governors is however in doubt.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, in December 2004, held that the Governor of Plateau State, Chief Joshua Dariye, could not be tried by the Tribunal because of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution, which confers immunity on serving governors.
Justice Stephen Adah, in a landmark judgment, held that the section prevented the Tribunal from issuing summons to compel the appearance of an incumbent governor.
The judge described the immunity granted to the governor as 'the albatross hanging on the soul of the nation."
Section 18(2) empowers the Code of Conduct Tribunal to penalise defaulters.
It reads, 'The punishment which the tribunal may impose shall include any of the following - a vacation of office or seat in any legislative house, as the case may be; disqualification from membership of a legislative house and from the holding of any public office for a period of not exceeding 10 years and seizure and forfeiture to the state of any property acquired in abuse or corruption of office."
The next sitting of the Tribunal will hold on May 24 and 26 in Ilorin, Kwara State. But it was not certain if the governors will appear.
As at press time, both governors Kalu and Ladoja reacted to the action filed by the conduct bureau.
Kalu dismissed the case against him as an attempt by his detractors to derail his aspiration to become the next president.
Special Assistant to the Governor on Media Matters, Mr. Iyke Ekeoma, said, 'The man is an international businessman. I hope you know that. He has always had foreign account before he became a governor. He has not opened any new one since becoming a governor."
Speaking with our correspondents over the phone in Umuahia, on Thursday, Ekeoma also said, 'He has a conglomerate which is SLOK, and SLOK is controlling all his businesses from banking to oil and those require a foreign account to run.
'He is not holding any foreign account based on being a governor. He is an international businessman. He had already started these businesses before becoming a governor, and before becoming a governor he declared all his assets. He owns houses abroad, which were all bought through foreign accounts. So there is nothing hidden about his foreign accounts. He simply owned them before becoming a governor.
'I hope you also know he has a bank which is in The Gambia and Sierra Leone, and these banks did not start when he was governor. These have been there before he became a governor.
'He has a house in London which he bought in 1990, he did not buy it with naira. He must have a foreign account. He has another house in America, and some acres of land. There is no way he would be having this airline he has and some other international businesses without having a foreign account to service them.
'The truth of the matter is that the Governor of Abia State has real good money."
The Special Adviser to the Oyo State governor on Media and Strategy, Mr. Ade Adekanbi, said Ladoja stopped operating a foreign account in 2003 when he assumed office.