By Ebere Agozie/Perpetua Onuegbu
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Mohammed Ndarani, on Wednesday, urged the Federal Government to bar retired civil servants from contesting for any elective position for at least one year after their retirement.
Ndarani, who made the call at a news conference in Abuja , said the call became necessary as the 2027 elections draws near.
According to him, the period will give the anti-corruption agencies the opportunity to conduct a forensic examination of their assets vis-a-vis what they declared before the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB.
“People with political ambitions are already beginning to throw their hats into the ring all the way from the local government tier to the presidency.
“Among those expected to emerge as political gladiators are retired civil servants, or those who resigned from public service or political appointments.
“A most instructive question here however is, after they leave the service, what happens? Do they routinely get investigated with their post-service assets by the anti-corruption agencies juxtaposed with what they had when they joined public service?
He said it is mandatory for public servants to declare their assets under the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) but sadly, this is hardly the case, except there is reason to investigate the individual.
“In the first instance there are laws under the Electoral Act 2022 guiding the financing of election campaigns which has never been followed in Nigeria.
“Section 88(2-7) stipulates the limits allowed for election expenses. Everybody just pays lip service to this veritable check and potential block to the activities of corrupt officials.
“This explains the main reason why many of them while in public service, line their pockets by every possible means, in anticipation of their making a foray into politics.
“It is cause for great concern that we hardly ever hear of politicians being sanctioned for running foul of the provisions of the said section 88(2-7)’’.
He frowned at the reluctance and at times outright refusal by public officials to publicly declare and submit their Asset declaration Forms.
The learned silk argued that non-compliance with the provisions of the CCB is responsible for the high level of corruption in the public service.
“Sadly, our politicians have been known to flout these laws with total impunity. They spend humongous amounts of money and in the process, stand the rest of the electoral laws on their heads.
“The tendency for public servants in Nigeria to plunder the nation’s treasury with shocking impunity during their employment is alarming and this is because they want to contest for political offices after retirement.
“This gets progressively worse as the date of their disengagement approaches, they do this to amass vast amounts of money with which to fund their election campaigns.
“These elections usually see them work their way into lofty political positions that would further enhance their ability to further milk the nation, often with little or no accountability.’’
He said these politicians go into the political office with little or nothing to their names but they come out with huge assets and monstrous amounts of money.
“When they work their way into office, they plunder the treasury and divert money meant for constituency projects and other development projects into their personal accounts.
“This has to stop if Nigeria must make progress,’’ he advised.
He reiterated that all political office holders should also be investigated, whether they are coming back for second tenure or not to ascertain the sources of their current assets and incomes.
“This is especially necessary when they are found to have inexplicably amassed unusually huge amounts of funds and assets which could not possibly have accrued from gainful, legitimate endeavours.
He added that all heads of MDAs that are retired, or have been relieved of their jobs should also be investigated whether they are contesting or not.
“Corruption remains one of the greatest obstacles to Nigeria’s development. It calls for stronger accountability measures to ensure that public resources are not wasted or diverted into a few private pockets.
“Nigerians deserve leaders who live modestly; account for every Naira spent, and put the nation’s welfare above personal gain.’’
He advised Nigerians to play their part by holding leaders accountable and participating actively in civic life.
“We are now getting ready for the 2027 general elections. Anti graft agencies and INEC have enough time to investigate all the above mentioned interest groups, to curb corruption during and after elections.
“I humbly urge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to apply the provision of section 315 of 1999 of the constitution (as amended) to reflect all my above legal opinion.
“This will save Nigeria from electing bad and corrupt leaders into political offices come 2027.
“I equally advise our president to create an enabling platform that will prevent retired public office holders from being able to use looted funds to contest elections,” he said.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Sadiya Hamza