Joel Oladele, Abuja
The Center for Fiscal Transparency (CFT) and the Centre for Media, Policy and Accountability (CMPA) have called on the 10th National Assembly to discard a bill passed by the 9th Senate to cut down the influence of the Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
According to the two anti-corruption groups, the bill was suspended by the immediate past Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, earlier in June. However, there are indications that the 10th Assembly is planning to bring it up.
The 70-clause amendment bill which had earlier scaled through during the 9th Senate’s recent amendment of the ICPC Act (2000) relieved the Chairman of the Commission of some powers, was passed on Tuesday, May 30, and was awaiting the consent of the House of Representatives, for it to be sent to the President for assent.
The legislation was titled, ‘A bill for an Act to amend the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 to strengthen the role of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offence Commission, and allow it to prosecute cases before the Federal High Court, align its provisions with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, clear ambiguities and enhance its preventive role by providing for shared responsibility to quicken and deepen the execution of the commission’s mandate and for related matters.’
The Senate further amended Section 3 of the Principal Act by inserting a new subsection 3(11), creating offices for Commissioners in the Commission.
The new subsection 3(11) states, “The commissioners of the commission shall have the following offices: i. Commissioner (Investigative Matters), ii. Commissioner (Legal Matters), iii. Commissioner (Prevention, Systems Review and Financial Intelligence), iv. Commissioner (Asset Recovery and Management), v. Commissioner (Anti-Corruption Education and Mobilisation), vi. Commissioner (Forensics and Emerging Technologies), vii. Zonal Commissioner, North-East, viii. Zonal Commissioner, North-Central, ix. Zonal Commissioner, North-West, x. Zonal Commissioner, South-East, xi. Zonal Commissioner, South-South, and xii. Zonal Commissioner, South-West.
“The amendment provided further that in assigning responsibilities to the commissioners, the President shall have regard to the appointees’ geopolitical zones and discipline.”
In his reaction to the development, the Executive Director, CFT, Mr Umar Yakubu, urged the 10th Assembly not to revisit the bill as it can affect the smooth running of the anti graft agency by turning its Chairman into a toothless dog.
“We’re aware of the bill, however, we urge the National Assembly not to go ahead with such a bill, as no organisation can perform well if major responsibilities are taken away from the Chief Executive. The Executive Chairman must be responsible for the day-to-day activities of the organisation.
“Now, when the Senate bill says some Commissioners or board members can now take positions and make decisions on behalf of the Executive Chairman that will lead to failure because it’s flawed. And it’s worse doing such to an anti-corruption agency that needs some level of independence to function properly without political interference,” Mr Yakubu said.
Also speaking, the Director of Communications, Media and Advocacy(CMPA), Mr Ibrahim Uba-Yusuf, noted that while the 10th Assembly could revisit other pending bills, it should do away with such bills targeted at the ICPC boss to encroach on the agency’s independence.
The anti-corruption policy advocate further urged the lawmakers to make Nigerians’ interest a priority while making laws.
“This is not one of the bills we’d urge the National Assembly to revisit. Although NASS could revisit pending bills, but not bills such as the one that would affect the effectiveness of the chairman of the ICPC, as it would have a direct negative effect on Nigerians.
“The Chairman of the ICPC and other anti-corruption agencies need enough freedom to allow them to function well. Hence, we at the CMPA, urge NASS to only pass laws in favour of Nigerians,” Uba-Yusufu noted.