…Urges agency to rev up their publicity machinery
By Dele Ogbodo
The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has said a lot of people, especially civil and public servants ran afoul of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) laws out of ignorance even as he asserted that many civil servants do not know the nitty-gritty of the asset declaration law.
He therefore urged the Bureau to intensify efforts on their enlightenment campaign and not wait for people to make mistakes concerning the regulations.
According to him, CCB mandate as it is, is presently being misconstrued by a greater chunk of the Nigeria even as he asserted that the law does not say civil servants or public servants should not own a business.
Speaking from the benefit of hindsight and as a former law maker in the House of Representatives, he said, what the law says was: they cannot run a business.
He called on the Bureau to focus more on enlightening public servants on the requirements of the code of conduct.
The Minister made the disclosure while hosting the Acting Chairman of CCB, Barr. Murtala Aliyu Kankia and his team on courtesy visit to the Minister’s Office in Abuja.
Spokesperson for the Ministry, Mr. Ozoya Imohimi, in a statement made available to EXTRAORDINAIRE.COM, said the Minister attributed the ignorance about the law to the miserable lives civil servants slipped into shortly after their retirement.
Tunji-Ojo, acknowledged that his Ministry has a common tie with CCB, stating that besides ensuring internal security, the Ministry ensures citizenship integrity, which is all about code of conduct.
He said “Strict adherence to code of conduct is what integrity is all about. It means your Agency and this Ministry are tied as Siamese twins.” In terms of compliance, the Tunji-Ojo noted the Ministry was relatively doing well and he assured to raise the bar of the Ministry beyond present level.
“People should not approach the law from the angle of fear, but from the angle of respect. The law did not say you shouldn’t prosper but your earnings must be earned legitimately.
He said the Bureau should not be an agency that denies people opportunity for creativity, adding that people should be made to know what the law allows them to do as they joined the service.
Earlier, in his speech the acting Chairman of Code of Conduct Bureau, Barr. Murtala Aliyu Kankia, applauded Minister for the excellent service he has rendered to the country, since his appointment as Minister, especially as seen in improvement in security and service delivery by the paramilitary Agencies under the Ministry’s supervision due to his reform initiatives.
He equally sought the collaboration of the ministry in the area of enlightenment of paramilitary on assets declaration laws and also for the security of the Bureau’s offices nationwide.
