President Bola Tinubu has agreed to the selection of Dr. Abdullahi Bello as the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau, awaiting approval from the Senate.
Bello takes over from Prof Isah Mohammed, who was appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in November 2018.
The appointment was announced by the Presidency in a statement released on Thursday, signed by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, titled ‘President Tinubu appoints new Chairman of Code of Conduct Bureau.’
Ngelale described Bello as “An experienced professional with over 25 years of work experience in consulting, banking, law enforcement, financial services, and academia.”
The CCB was formed in 1979 when the Constitution listed Codes of Conduct for public officers.
However, its legal authority was only established in 1989 under the Babangida regime.
The Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, Chapter 58 LFN 1990 requires the Bureau to, among other things, collect asset declarations from public officers, review the declarations, keep them in custody, and make them available for inspection by any Nigerian citizen under terms and conditions set by the National Assembly.
Tinubu expects the new Chairman, once confirmed by the Senate, to “guide the Bureau with utmost integrity toward achieving its goal of upholding high standards of public morality in the conduct of government business.”
The new Chairman must also “ensure that the actions and behavior of public officers adhere to the highest standards of morality and accountability,” the statement read.
