Sometimes when I see or read about what is going on amongst elected and appointed political officials in Nigeria my whole body will be itching me; The immediate past governor of Zamfara state did not just refuse to hand over the official properties in his confer after his tenure in office, he is also been fingered to have awarded contracts amounting to N2B to his own company (Besbelmon LTD) ie to a company which he is a director and a shareholder.
Same news with the past Bauchi state governor last year when documents showed that he allegedly awarded contracts amounting to N2.5B to his family members, friends and political allies thereby violating the procurement laws and code of conduct for public officials. Ifeanyi Okowa, the immediate past governor of Delta state was also caught up in the same scandal some time ago of awarding contracts to companies belonging to his family members and friends. At some points, former Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State raised an alarm accusing his colleagues and co-governors of awarding government contracts to themselves and to their family members and to their political allies.
It worries me and I do wonder if Nigerian politicians are not intimated with our laws before they take over office or they are morally bankrupt or they just have a knack for civil disobedience and breaking of laws because awarding contracts to family members, friends, allies, agents and even to self is not just ethically wrong, it is against public policy rule and illegal.
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In Nigeria, the law prohibits a government official from awarding contracts to himself, his or her family members or his close allies. This is provided for in the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act of 2007. In fact, this law requires public officials to declare their assets, liabilities, and business interests before they assume office and prohibits them from using their positions to benefit themselves or their families.
Specifically, Section 5 of the Act prohibits public officers from carrying out any business with the government except through an open and competitive process. It also prohibits them from engaging in any transaction that involves a conflict of interest or which may result in personal gain and public officials who violate these provisions can be investigated, prosecuted and penalized by the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
This is not just a Nigerian thing, it’s applicable in most part of the world that a public official is never allowed to put himself in a situation where his personal interest will be clashing with his official interest and if you decide to play smart and engage your agents and nominees to act on your behalf you will be presumed to have acted yourself and will at the same time be prosecuted. Section 17 of the Code of conduct bureau and tribunal act makes this provision; A public officer who does any act prohibited by this Act through a nominee, trustee or other agents shall be deemed ipso facto to have committed a breach of this Act.
These are the things that we are fighting against in Nigeria and we will keep shouting until we drag Nigeria to that much-anticipated utopia.