The Senate on Thursday transferred the control of the Code of Conduct Bureau from the President to the National Assembly while amending the Code of Conduct and Tribunal Act.

The amendment now ensures that the Senate approves members of the Bureau and Tribunal after they have been appointed by the President.

The CCT shall now have a chairman and four other members as part of the amendment.

Samuel Anyanwu, Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions presented a report on the concurrent amendment bill.

The report read in part, “The bill originated from the House of Representatives. After passage, it was sent to the Senate for concurrence and was read the first time in the Senate on October 5, 2016. You would probably recall also that on April 14, 2016, a similar bill was initiated in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions but the political situation of that time was not conducive for continued processing of the bill, and was subsequently suspended.”

The amendment, the report said, include “altering the tenure of the Office of the Chairman and members of the bureau; amending the entry age of the chairman and members of the bureau; relocating the power to exercise authority over the bureau from Mr. President to the National Assembly; extending (the) power of the Attorney-General of the Federation to prosecute to private legal practitioners to enable the bureau prosecute its cases; and making certain provisions clearer and more elaborate.”