by Ariyo-Dare, Atoye

 The President may have his own reason for not giving ‘a damn’ on the criticisms but his major protection derives from the constitution, which gives him and other public officers such soft landing

It is wise and strategic for any nation that is challenged by endemic corruption to have an inbuilt mechanism for eradicating or preventing corruption in every facet of its reform agenda and policies. Though, fighting corruption is almost becoming a lost battle in Nigeria particularly with repeated excuses on the part of government, however, we still have a few options available to us.

One of the options is to review the foundation of political participation by putting in place measures that will limit the involvement of persons with corrupt-tendencies or reduce significantly, the opportunity to be corrupted. This is possible with the inclusion of certain provisions in the electoral act and further amendment to relevant sections of the constitution regarding asset declaration.

For instance, there were wide-spread criticisms over the non-open declaration of asset by President Goodluck Jonathan. The President may have his own reason for not giving ‘a damn’ on the criticisms but his major protection derives from the constitution, which gives him and other public officers such soft landing. Impunity is prevalent in Nigeria for the reason that our system guarantees so much individual discretion. What we need are more close-ended legal frameworks with clear provisions for total compliance. The ongoing constitution review process and the need for further electoral reform should, therefore, create a better opportunity to factor into our system, legal instruments that will help to reduce or remove our corruption burden.

As a firm believer in the Nigerian Project, I have made some specific presentations which I consider vital to limiting corruption influence in political participation during the Peoples’ Session on Constitution Review in November 2012 by the House of Representatives and the Senate. For the record, I am making public, this recommendation and a similar one recently submitted at a Youth Session on Electoral Reforms in Abuja. The two submissions are similar and basically aim to ensure that only those who are ready for total transparency and accountability participate in politics.

On Electoral Reform

Seeking an amendment/addition to the Electoral Act proposing that:

(a) Any person that has become a candidate of a political party for any given election shall together with his acceptance form submit a written declaration of all his properties, assets, and liabilities and those of his unmarried children under the age of 18 years with a sworn affidavit to the INEC, and his/her political party.

(b) Any candidate that fails to comply with (a) above according to time limit set by INEC for the submission of candidates’ acceptance form shall be deemed disqualified.

(c) The assets so declared shall be a public record for the purpose of verification to ascertain if the person(s) affected by the above provisions have not in any way corruptly enrich himself/herself or confer undue advantage on himself/herself above their entitlements.

(d) In the case of seeking re-election, section (a) above shall again apply to the candidate.

(e) Any statement in such declaration that is found to be false by any authority or person authorised in that behalf to verify it shall be deemed to be a breach of the law and shall stand as a ground for disqualification or removal from office.

The reason behind this submission is not far-fetched – we must get serious about making our system open to public scrutiny. No one has any reason to seek a public mandate if he/she is not ready to come to equity with clean hands. Public office should be for people of integrity who are ready to give stewardship of every deed. Nigeria is bigger than any individual and all elected political office holders who constitute less than two per cent of the population. If we are to go beyond paying lip-service to the issue of corruption, then we must establish a system for ‘survival of the credible’ such that only “fit and proper” persons are encouraged and attracted to aspire for public office.

On Constitution Review

I also submitted a memorandum seeking an improvement to the Fifth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution as amended. This is strictly to make legally open, asset declaration which is at the discretion of politicians and which concealment is further aided by the Code of Conduct Bureau. This amendment request is tagged “Code of Conduct for Political Participation” and is for both the elected and appointed political office holders. It suggests that:

(f) Any person that has become a candidate of a political party for any given election shall, together with his acceptance form, submit a written declaration of all his properties, assets and liabilities as well as those of his unmarried children under the age of 18 years with a sworn affidavit to the Code of Conduct Bureau, a Federal/State High Court, Independent National Electoral Commission, and his/her political party.

(g) In the case of a political appointee, such a person shall, together with his Acceptance Letter, submit a written declaration of all his/her properties, assets, and liabilities and those of his unmarried children under the age of 18 years with a sworn affidavit to the Code of Conduct Bureau, a Federal/State High Court and the office of the Attorney-General (Federal/State).

(h) The assets so declared shall be a public record for the purpose of verification to ascertain if persons affected by the above provisions have not in any way corruptly enrich themselves or confer undue advantage on themselves above their entitlements.

(i) After such person must have become a public officer by a reason of election or appointment, shall not later than one month before quitting office, make another asset declaration before the authorities cited in 1 & 2 above. And in the case of resignation, nullification of election or termination of appointment, such declaration shall be done not later than 14 days after quitting the post.

(j) Any statement in such declaration that is found to be false by any authority or person authorised in that behalf to verify it shall be deemed to be a breach of this Code and a corrupt act.

(k) Any property or assets acquired by a public officer after any declaration required under this Constitution and which is not fairly attributable to income, gift, or loan approved by this Code shall be deemed to have been acquired in breach of this Code unless the contrary is proved beyond reasonable doubt.

The solution to our challenges should go beyond the rhetoric. We need to be bold and decisive, including putting in place enduring policies that even the framer, will find difficult to compromise. One costly mistake we often make and which has put us on this sad lane is that we put our personal interest over and above that of the nation without an eye on the future. But Irrespective of our challenges, it is not a lost hope for Nigeria if we can act decisively to salvage the system and work with every sense of responsibility. However, if we fail to act, in few years’ time, Aso Rock and Government House in the States may be the only safe place in Nigeria, and this is even doubtful. The level at which corruption is growing in the country, if not checked, has the capacity to create a Monstrous-Octopus with enough tentacles to make every part of our nation unsafe for both the poor and the rich. This is a time-bomb.

———————-
Ariyo-Dare, ATOYE is a Communication Specialist and a Public Relations Strategist. He is the Convener, Nigeria Centenary Group.

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.