Politics
THE National Youth Council of Nigeria, NYCN has petitioned the Senate over the planned screening, Murtala Aliyu Kankia, Katsina State, North West Representative for the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) as forwarded to it by President Muhammadu Buhari.
In the petition dated February 10th, 2023, addressed to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senator Ayo Akinyelure, PDP, Ondo Central, the NYCN has asked the Committee to halt the screening and subsequent confirmation of the nominee against the backdrop that for presenting his name by the President to the Senate, there was contravention of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria( as amended) and the public Service rules.
The petitioners are praying that the Senate should throw out the Nomination of Barr. Murtala Aliyu Kankia as well as conduct detailed investigation on the activities of the Code of Conduct Bureau as to why the Agency has remained comatose in recent times, just as they assured the Upper Chamber of their readiness to make themselves available to defend the petition at all times.
The petition which was made available to Vanguard on Monday was signed by the President, NYCN, Comrade. Solomon Adodo; Mallam Suleiman Musa, Co-Convener, Guardians of Democracy and Development and Comrade Sani Madaki, Head of Investigations, Independent Public Service Watch. The petition is titled, ” Contravention of the 1999 Constitution and Service Rules in the Nomination of Barrister Murtala Aliyu Kankia as member of the Code of Conduct Bureau.
According to NYCN, prior to 2023 political Party primaries elections, some members of the Code of Conduct Bureau had resigned to contest elections and one them was Murtala Aliyu Kankia to enable him contest under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the primaries for the ticket of the House of Representatives.
The NYCN said that with Kankia’s full and proper participation in the said primaries, it became very clear that he is not only a member of a political Party, the APC, but will always be influenced by political considerations having participated at such high level of politics.
The petitioners further said that based on Kankia’s participation in the primaries and in line with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the relevant Public Service Rules, his nomination therefor falls short of provisions of Sections 153, 154, and 155 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the third Schedule thereof.
According to the NYCN, why Kankia resigned was to enable him contest elections as a card carrying member of the APC and his resignation also came on the grounds of ethics as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari that Public Office holders should not be drawn into politics.
The petition read, “We write on behalf of the leadership of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, the umbrella body championing the cause of the Nigerian youths and our partner Civil Society Groups that serve as conscience of the nation on the above subject matter to draw your attention and expedite actions that will forestall the collapse of a significant public service institution as the Code of Conduct Bureau.
“In the build up to the 2023 political Party primaries elections, some members of the Code of Conduct Bureau resigned to contest elections. Among those who resigned is Barr. Murtala Aliyu Kankia who contested under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the primaries for the ticket of the House of Representatives. By virtue of Barr. Kankia’s full and proper participation in the said primaries, it is proven beyond any iota of doubt that he not only is a member of a political Party – the All Progressives Congress – but will always be influenced by political considerations having participated at such high level of political horse trading.
“On the heels of the afore stated and the sacrosanct provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the relevant Public Service Rules that we herein draw your patriotic attention to the nomination of Barr. Murtala Aliyu Kankia. Barr. Kankia’s nomination incontrovertibly falls short of provisions of Sections 153, 154, and 155 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the third Schedule thereof. The sole purpose of Barr. Kankia’s resignation was to enable him contest elections as a card carrying member of the APC and his resignation also came on the grounds of ethics as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari that Public Office holders should not be drawn to the murky waters politics – a scenario that will definitely play out is this nomination is allowed to scale through.
“This revered Committee might recall that the case of Barr. Kankia is akin to that of Mrs. Lauretta Onochie whose nomination as a Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission was widely criticised, opposed and rejected by Nigerians. Subsequently, the Senate stood for honor and safeguarding our sacred Constitution and national ethics by not confirming that nomination. The Code of Conduct Bureau is an even more sensitive body than the INEC in terms of tolerance to any form of bias seeing that it governs and monitors the Conduct of all Public Officials throughout the odyssey of their respective services. Imperatively, all members must be balanced and impartial. The same cannot be said of Barr. Murtala Aliyu Kankia in this instance.
“Furthermore, the records show that Barr. Murtala Aliyu Kankia did compromise on a number of critical cases while he still held Office as Commissioner in charge of Investigation, Intelligence and Monitoring. His appointment calls for questioning having sabotaged many petitions brought to the Bureau by Nigerians. Prominent among the compromised cases are:
“The case of the erstwhile Accountant General of the Federation – Mr. Ahmed Idris. The matter was brought before the CCB in 2019, thorough investigations were made, and findings established to the fact that Ahmed Idris had abused public office and used same to amass billions. This investigation never saw the light of the day as it was swept under the carpet under Barr. Kankia’s watch. It only took the eagled eyes of the EFCC to unravel the seething crime two years after.
“The case of Regina Dominic is another very sorry episode in which the whistle blowers who exposed the stealing of Public funds by the said Regina Dominic where persecuted, whitch hunted and jailed as a result of the compromise from the investigative department of the CCB.
“On ethical grounds, it is established that several high profile case were never charged to the Code of Conduct Tribunal for proper prosecution. This is traceable to the Commissioner on charge of Intelligence, Investigation and Monitoring who played active roles in sabotaging transparency and fairness. It remains to be seen that the reputation, integrity and functionality of the CCB will be more deeply impinged upon if the nomination of Barr. Murtala Aliyu Kankia is allowed to stand.
We therefore pray the Senate to: Throw out the Nomination of Barr. Murtala Aliyu Kankia; Conduct detailed investigation on the activities of the Code of Conduct Bureau as to why the Agency has remained comatose in recent times.
“We shall be available to defend this petition at all times.Please accept the assurances of our highest esteem and fervid support for national development.”
-Vanguard
KN
Tags: Murtala Aliyu Kankia National Youth Council of Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari
