The Director General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms Mr. D.I Arabi has emphasized that the conduct of Public Officers must reflect the highest ethical standards in other to meet the expectations of the publics. He disclosed this at the Lunch Time Reform seminar series recently held in Abuja.
In his opening remarks, he said that the major objective of governance is to provide welfare and security through the day to day performance of Public Servants to the entire citizenry. This can be achieved through transparency, accountability which they demonstrate by executing the social contracts and the public trust reposed in them.
Speaking further, Arabi described the Code of Conduct Bureau as the harbinger and a key agency in the frontline of anti-corruption crusade. He also reiterated that Public Officers are the engine room for the growth of the society. He referred to the Public Service Rules which stipulates the standard expected template for acceptable conduct of every Civil / Public servants. This is because modern democratic practice worldwide presumed that the core mandate of government is to provide welfare for its citizenry.
Notable is the fact that the National Strategy for Public Service Reform (NSPSR) is part of the interventions by government that support the revision of existing standards to ethical practices and implementation of Public Service Code of Conducts.
In a quick succession, the chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau who is also the Guest speaker, Professor Muhammad Isah explicitly gave an insight into the workings of the agency and its mode of operations. He said the establishment of CCB dated back to the military era with the sole aim to combat the rising spate of corruption in the country. He made public the distinctive roles of both the CCB and the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) and how the action of one leads to the responsibility of the other.
According to him, the code of Conduct Bureau was given constitutional powers in the 1999 constitution as enshrined in section 153, schedule 3, part 1 and fifth schedule part 1 as amended with its vision as Honesty, Transparency, and Accountability in public office. He further said the Mission is to eradicate corrupt practices and ensure compliance with the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.
The Prof. reiterated that the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Code of Conduct Tribunal are two independent autonomous institutions that operate independently. He said while the Bureau administer assets declarations, gather intelligence, monitor and investigate petitions’ compliance, the Tribunal adjudicates on the cases referred to it by the Bureau before such cases are prosecuted by the office of the Attorney General being represented by legal officers in the Bureau.
The CCB chief advised that Public Servants should desist from seeing the opportunity of a public office as an avenue for sharing the ‘’National cake’’ which has almost become the norm. He said it is even worse when Public Officers who are able to loot are honored, celebrated and accorded all forms of recognition while the case is opposite to the honest ones.
Speaking earlier, Mr. Arabi underscored the need for Public Servants appointed into offices to declare their assets upon assumption or shortly after in a period not later than three months. ‘’This would track the acquisition of such assets and their limits would be put in check.’’