Assets declaration: CCB may arraign NDDC sole administrator

By OKODILI NDIDI, Abuja

The Code of Conduct Bureau may soon arraign the sole administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Effiong Akwa, before the Code of Conduct Tribunal for failing to comply with the mandatory declaration of assets by public officers, The Nation has reliably gathered.

Akwa, until his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari, as the sole administrator of the NDDC, was the Acting Executive Director, Finance and Administration in the Commission.

A highly placed source at the CCB confided in The Nation that the NDDC Administrator failed to disclose his assets while serving as the Managing Director of the Akwa Ibom- owned microfinance bank, Akwa Loans and Savings Limited and as the Special Adviser on Finance to a former NDDC Director.

Reports written by CCB Directors in Akwa Ibom and the Rivers States and sighted by The Nation showed that Akwa did not disclose his assets as mandated despite several letters from the Agency requesting him to do so.

According to the source, a panel has already been constituted to investigate the matter, after which the NDDC Sole administrator will be handed over to the Code of Conduct Tribunal for prosecution.

“I can tell you that we have our reports which show that the NDDC Sole Administrator, Effiong Akwa, didn’t disclose his assets, both when he was the Managing Director of the Akwa Ibom State-owned bank and while he was serving at the NDDC.

“He was supposed to appear before the investigative panel last Thursday, but he wrote us a letter asking that the date be rescheduled to suit his engagements,” the source stated.

The source added: “We are also aware of the malicious allegations that he has paid N100 million to some of our officials to backdate his assets declaration form to get him off the hook. But I can tell you that it is not possible to backdate our documents.

“The matter we are talking about happened in 2013, how do you backdate such documents, how do you get the then Chairman to come and sign the document.

“We are not distracted by all these attempts to tarnish the image of the Agency by some mischievous elements. We are going ahead to investigate the allegations against the NDDC Sole Administrator, after which we will hand over to the Tribunal for prosecution”.

Section 3 part of the third schedule to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, empowers the Code of Conduct Bureau to receive complaints about non-compliance with or breach of the provision of the code of conduct or any law in relation thereto, investigate complaints and, where appropriate, refer such matters to the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

If found guilty according to the provisions of the Tribunal, Akwa may be Tribunal be asked to vacate the office or be barred from holding any public office for a period not exceeding ten years. (The Nation)

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