Reps propose stripping Buhari of CCT chair appointment power

The House of Representatives has begun the process of stripping the President of his power to appoint the chairman and members of the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

As being proposed by the House, the National Judicial Council will be vested with power to appoint the CCT chairman and members based on the recommendation by the Federal Judicial Service Commission.

This proposal is contained in a bill sponsored by Mr Awaji-Inonbek Abiante, which passed the second reading at plenary on Tuesday.

The legislation is titled, ‘A Bill for an Act to Amend the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, Cap. C15, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.’

According to Abiate, the bill seeks to amend the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act by “removing the restrictions placed on public officers from engaging in any enterprise other than farming and breaking the prison walls of same, as well as putting the appointment and removal of the chairman and members of the CCT under the jurisdiction of the NJC.

Abiante proposed that the existing Section 6 of the principal Act be deleted and a new Section 6 be inserted to read, “Restrictions on specified officers: A public officer shall not receive or be paid the emolument of any public office at the same time as he receives or is paid the emolument of any other public office.

“Subject to Section 5 of the principal Act, a public officer may engage in any enterprise(s), provided there is no conflict of interest.”

The lawmaker also asked that the NJC should replace President everywhere it is in Section 20 (4).

The new section will now read “The chairman and other members of the tribunal shall be appointed by the National Judicial Council on the recommendation of the Federal Judicial Service Commission.”

An amended Section 22 (3) will also read, “A person holding the office of chairman or member of the tribunal shall not be removed from his office or appointment by the National Judicial Council except upon an address supported by two-thirds majority of each House of the National Assembly, praying that he be so removed for inability to discharge the functions of the office in question, whether arising from infirmity of mind or body, or for misconduct or for contravention of this Act.”

Abiante said, “This bill is aimed at removing the restrictions placed on agile and competent public officers from engaging or participating in the management of a business, profession or trade, and removing political interference in the activities of the chairman and members of the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

“The Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal were established to maintain a high moral standard in the conduct of government business and to ensure that the actions and behaviour of public officers conform to the highest standards of public morality and accountability, and they impose punishment on erring public officers.

“Public service, either at the local, state or federal (level) can boast officers with great professional acumen who can use their experience during their free periods to enhance the socioeconomic development of this country, but are denied through the restrictions placed on them in consideration of the principal Act.”

The Senate on October 27, 2016, in a tensed atmosphere, passed a bill amending the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, which transfers the controlling powers of the bureau and the tribunal from the President to the National Assembly.

As part of the amendment, the CCT was to be made up of the chairman and four other members, with three of the five forming a quorum at every sitting.

The lawmakers however allowed the President to maintain his power to make appointment to the CCB.

But the appointment of the chairman and members of the bureau and the tribunal would be subject to the Senate’s approval, with the appointment of those in the bureau limited to a five-year tenure, while the second term will be subject to legislative approval, if the amendment is passed into law.

The House of Representatives passed the amendment bill in May 2016 and sent it to the Senate for concurrence.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Samuel Anyanwu, while laying a report on the concurrence amendment bill, admitted that a similar amendment bill was introduced into the Senate earlier in the year, which generated political tension that forced the lawmakers to suspend the process.