ABUJA — FORMER Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof Gabriel Osuide, former Senior Special Assistant to President Olusegun Obasanjo on HIV\AIDS, Prof Ibironke Akinsete and three others have been dragged by the Federal Government before the Code of Conduct Tribunal sitting in Abuja for failing to declare their assets while serving in public offices.
Three others facing similar charges are former Director-General of the National Centre for Women Development, Dr Stella Odogu, former Chairman of NICON Plc, Chief Samuel Nwokedi and an attaché to the incumbent Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Garba Abdullahi.
They were said to have run foul of Section 172 of the 1999 Constitution which provides: “A person in the public service of the Federation shall observe and conform to the code of conduct,”
Specifically, the prosecutor told the tribunal that all the accused persons refused to declare their assets contrary to the provisions of section 11 (1) of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers Act.
The said section provides: “Every public officer shall within three months after taking office and thereafter
(a) at the end of every four years and
(b) at the end of his term of office submit to the Code of Conduct Bureau, a written declaration of all his properties, assets and liabilities and those of his spouse or unmarried children under the age of 21.
Their actions were said to be punishable under Section 7 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act Cap 56, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990.
All of them were expected to appear yesterday to defend themselves in respect of the charges preferred against them but none of them was available for trial.
The courtroom was practically vacant as all accused persons billed to answer to their charges stayed off the proceedings.
Prosecution counsel from the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr Thompson Olatigbe who was asked by the tribunal why the courtroom was vacant told the presiding judge, Justice Muhammad Bashir Sambo that all efforts to serve them court summons personally were frustrated by them. He said each of them warned their support staff not to collect any summons on their behalf.
The court bailiff who attempted to serve the accused persons court summons in the matters also corroborated the account of the prosecuting counsel, Mr Olatigbe, informing the tribunal that they were all evading service. Justice Sambo who said he believed what the prosecutor and the bailiff told the tribunal consequently ordered arrest of all the accused persons.
The prepared warrant of arrest was directed to the Commissioner of Police for the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja for execution. He was mandated to see to the arrest and production of all the accused persons before the tribunal at the next adjourned date.
They are expected to be arraigned on October 6, this year, same day suspended Governor Dariye of Plateau State was expected to show up at the trial venue in Abuja for his defence.
