The recent open show of support for the reelection bid of President Muhammadu Buhari by top officials of statutory agencies is not only distasteful, but also an unethical breach of Code of Conduct for public officials. It is also a sad throwback to the inglorious days of former military ruler, late General Sani Abacha, during which time state agencies and political parties were personalized to massage the ego of a maximum ruler.
Acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu was recently spotted wearing a lapel pin bearing the face of President Buhari on a live interview with Channels Television while Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Mr Hameed Ali, also recently led members of Buhari Support Organisation to Presidential Villa, as the nation inches towards the coming general elections.
The indiscretion ought to be a source of embarrassment to the President whose favour they apparently sought to curry with such brazen disrespect for decency and the law.
If not nipped in the bud and vigorously condemned, the actions of the public officers are a grave danger to the health of the polity and the coming elections. In no time, more public officers will abandon their assignments to the nation to show solidarity – mostly fake – to the President.
To us at New Independence Group (NIG), the breach of Code of Conduct by the duo poses serious threats to the polity, especially as the nation moves towards the 2019 general elections. In a country where political parties are no more than Combat garrisons, and members of political parties are infantry men to fight in wars which elections have become in our clime, such open emotional show of solidarity by elements of security agencies and para-military organs of government clearly constitutes grave danger to politically exposed citizens especially members of the opposition.
It is not in doubt that
the President has the right to seek another term in office. We at NIG also admit that it is an inalienable right of anybody, including appointees of the President to support the candidacy of the incumbent, just like any other citizen may have similar sentiments for him or any other aspirant to the office.The expression of such right must, however, not be in such a way as to put their personal interests in conflict with the laws of the nation as regards fairness to all citizens and the impartiality required of them in the discharge of their statutory duties.The actions of these public officials run contrary to section 1 of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers. As a schedule to the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the fifth schedule, the Code enjoys the status of being part of the grundnorm.
It states:
“A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities.”
Offices being held by Messrs Magu and Ali require them to be fair and firm to all citizens, not just their appointer.
In the United States where Nigeria’s presidential system of government takes its root, the independence of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) is writ large, with the ongoing probe of President Donald Trump for allegedly obtaining support from Russia towards the election that ushered the American leader into office as a significant signpost.The framers of the Nigerian Constitution and the Code of Conduct for Public Officials expect nothing less than the American example from the heads of statutory corporations especially security agencies.
Under the Code, public officials are not expected to become fawning courtiers of an emperor; definitely not the egregious partisan public servants whose loyalty is tied to individuals instead of the nation-state as demonstrated by Magu and Ali.
Section 9 of the Code of Conduct states further: “A public officer shall not do or direct to be done, in abuse of his office, any arbitrary act prejudicial to the rights of any other person knowing that such act is unlawful or contrary to any government policy.”
We wonder, what happens to the leadership of the EFCC and other agencies who may wish to grovel before the emperor if, just if, President Buhari loses his reelection bid and another aspirant takes office? Will such officers not have put their agencies, and by extension the country, in harm’s way due to the indiscretion of such officers?
The Code provides for the establishment of a tribunal to enforce its provisions, and outlines a series of sanctions against officers who may be in breach.Section 18 of the Code states:
18(1) Where the Code of Conduct Tribunal finds a public officer guilty of contravention of any of the provisions of this Code it shall impose upon that officer any of the punishments specified under sub-paragraph (2) of this paragraph and such other punishment as may be prescribed by the National Assembly.
The prescribed punishments may include vacation of office.
To effectively settle the dispute as to who is covered by the term public officer, Part 11 of the Code in section 14 identifies them to include “Chairman, members of the Boards or other governing bodies and staff of statutory Corporations of which the Federal or State Governments or local governments councils.”
Messrs Magu and Ali must be dragged before Code of Conduct Tribunal, to serve as deterrent to similarly-minded public officers and prove that, indeed, the law – and the famed new Sheriff in town, President Buhari – will truly dispense justice without fear or favour.
• Akinyemi Onigbinde, Convener, NIG
