CODE OF CONDUCT BUREAU AND TRIBUNAL ACT

(1) There is hereby established a bureau to be known as the Code of Conduct Bureau (in this Act referred to as "the Bureau").
(2) The Bureau shall consist of a chairman and nine other members who shall be-
(a) persons of unimpeachable integrity in the Nigerian society; and
(b) at the time of appointment, not less than fifty years.
(3) The chairman and the other members shall be appointed by the President subject to confirmation of the Senate.
(4) The chairman and any member shall vacate office upon attaining the age of seventy.

The aims and objectives of the Bureau shall be to establish and maintain a high standard of morality in the conduct of government business and to ensure that the actions and behaviour of public officers conform to the highest standards of public morality and accountability.

The functions of the Bureau shall be to--(a) receive assets declarations by public officers in accordance with the provisions of this Act;
(b) examine the assets declarations and ensure that they comply with the requirements of this Act and of any law for the time being in force;
(c) take and retain custody of such assets declarations; and
(d) receive complaints about non-compliance with or breach of this Act and where the Bureau considers it necessary to do so, refer such complaints to the Code of Conduct Tribunal established by section 20 of this Act in accordance with the provisions of sections 20 to 25 of this Act;
Provided that where the person concerned makes a written admission of such breach or non-compliance, no reference to the Tribunal shall be necessary.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the tenure of office of staff of the Bureau shall be the same as that provided for in respect of officers in the civil service of the Federation.
(2) The power to appoint members of staff of the Bureau and to exercise disciplinary control over them shall vest in the Bureau, and shall be exercisable in accordance with the provisions of rules and regulations as may, from time to time, be made by the President.

A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities.

Without prejudice to the generality of section 5 of this Act, a public officer shall not-(a) receive or be paid the emoluments of any public office at the same time as he receives or is paid the emoluments of any other public office; or
(b) except where he is not employed on full-time basis, engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade; but nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a public officer from engaging in farming or participating in the management or running of any farm .

Any public officer specified in the Second Schedule to this Act or any other persons as the President may, from time to time, by order prescribe, shall not maintain or operate a bank account in any country outside Nigeria.
[Second Schedule.)

A public officer shall not after his retirement from public service and while receiving pension from public funds, accept more than one remunerative position as chairman, director or employee of a company owned or controlled by any Government or public authority or receive any other remuneration from public funds in addition to his pension and the emolument of one such remunerative position.

(1) Retired public officers who have held offices to which this section applies are prohibited from service or employment in foreign companies or foreign enterprises.
(2) This section applies to the office of President, Vice-President, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Governor and Deputy Governor of a State.

(1) A public officer shall not ask for or accept any property or benefits of any kind for himself or any other person on account of anything done or omitted to be done by him in the discharge of his duties.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section, the receipt by a public officer of any gifts or benefits from commercial firms, business enterprises or persons who have contracts with the Government, shall be presumed to have been received in contravention of subsection (1) of this section, unless the contrary is proved.
(3) A public officer shall only accept personal gifts or benefits from relatives or personal friends to such extent and on such occasions as are recognised by custom:
Provided that any gift or benefit to a public officer on any public or ceremonial occasion shall be treated as gifts or benefits to the appropriate institution represented by the public officer, and accordingly, the mere acceptance or receipt of any such gift or benefit shall not be treated as a contravention of this provision.

The President or Vice-President, Governor or Deputy Governor, Minister of the Government of the Federation or Commissioner of the Government of a State or any other public officer who holds office of a Director-General or head of any public corporation, university, or other parastatal organisation shall not accept-(a) a loan, except from government or any of its agencies or a bank, building society or other financial institution recognised by law; or
(b) any benefit of whatever nature from any company, contractor, businessman or the nominee or agent of such person:
Provided that the head of a public corporation or of a university or other parastatal organisation may, subject to the rules and regulations of any such body, accept a loan from any such body .

No person shall offer a public officer any property, gift or benefit of any kind as an inducement or bribe for the granting of any favour or the discharge in his favour of the public officer's duties.

A public officer shall not do or direct to be done, in abuse of his office, any act prejudicial to the rights of any other person, knowing that such act is unlawful or contrary to any government policy.

A public officer shall not be a member of or belong to or take part in any society the membership of which is incompatible with the functions or dignity of his office.

(1) Every public officer shall, within fifteen months after the coming into force of this Act or immediately after taking office and thereafter-
(a) at the end of every four years;
(b) at the end of his term of office; and
(c) in the case of a serving officer, within thirty days of the receipt of the form from the Bureau or at such other intervals as the Bureau may specify, submit to the Bureau a written declaration in the Form prescribed in the First Schedule to this Act or, in such form as the Bureau may, from time to time, specify, of all his properties, assets and liabilities and those of his spouse or unmarried children under the age of twenty-one years.
(2) Any statement in any declaration that is found to be false by any authority or person authorised in that behalf to verify it, shall be deemed to be a breach of this Act.
(3) Any property or assets acquired by a public officer after any declaration required by subsection (1) of this section and which is not fairly attributable to income, gifts or loan approved by this Act, shall be deemed to have been acquired in breach of this Act unless the contrary is proved.

Any complaint that a public officer has committed a breach of or has not complied with the provisions of this Act shall be made to the Bureau.

A public officer who does any act prohibited by this Act through a nominee, trustee or other agent shall be deemed ipso facto to have committed a breach of this Act.

(1) The President may by order exempt any cadre of public officers from the provisions of this Act if it appears to him that their position in the public service is below the rank which it considers appropriate for the application of those provisions.
(2) The President may by order confer on the Bureau such additional powers as may appear to it to be necessary to enable it to discharge more effectively the functions conferred upon it under this Act.

The chairman and other members of the Bureau shall not be liable, and shall be indemnified, in any action or litigation for any acts or omissions done or purported to be done in the course of the discharge of their duties under this Act.

(1) There is hereby established a tribunal to be known as the Code of Conduct Tribunal (in this Act referred to as "the Tribunal").
(2) The Tribunal shall consist of a chairman and two other members.
(3) The chairman shall be a person who has held or is qualified to hold office as a Judge of a superior court of record in Nigeria and shall receive such remuneration as may be prescribed by law.
(4) The chairman and other members of the Tribunal shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council.
(5) The National Assembly may by law confer on the Tribunal such additional powers as may appear to it to be necessary to enable the Tribunal to discharge more effectively the functions conferred on it under this Act.

(1) The tenure of office of the staff of the Tribunal shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be the same as that provided for in respect of officers in the civil service of the Federation.
(2) The power to appoint the staff of the Tribunal and to exercise disciplinary control over them shall vest in the members of the Tribunal and shall be exercisable in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a person holding the office of chairman or member of the Tribunal shall vacate his office when he attains the age of seventy years.
(2) A person who has held office as chairman or member of the Tribunal for a period of not less than ten years shall, if he retires at the age of seventy years, be entitled to pension for life at a rate equivalent to his last annual salary in addition to other retirement benefits to which he may be entitled.
(3) A person holding the office of chairman or member of the Tribunal shall not be removed from his office or appointment by the President except upon an address supported by two-thirds majority of each House of the National Assembly praying that he be so removed for inability to discharge the functions of the office in question (whether arising from infirmity of mind or body) or for misconduct or for contravention of the Act.
(4) A person holding the office of chairman or member of the Tribunal shall not be removed from office before retiring age, save in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(1) Where the Tribunal finds a public officer guilty of contravening any of the provisions of this Act, it shall impose upon that officer any of the punishments specified under subsection (2) of this section.
(2) The punishment which the Tribunal may impose shall include any of the following-
(a) vacation of office or any elective or nominated office, as the case may be;
(b) disqualification from holding any public office (whether elective or not) for a period not exceeding ten years; and
(c) seizure and forfeiture to the State of any property acquired in abuse or corruption of office.
(3) The punishments mentioned in subsection (2) of this section shall be without prejudice to the penalties that may be imposed by any law where the breach of conduct is also a criminal offence under the Criminal Code or any other enactment or law.
(4) Where the Tribunal gives a decision as to whether or not a person is guilty of a contravention of any of the provisions of this Act, an appeal shall as of right from such decision or from any punishment imposed on such person to the Court of Appeal at the instance of any party to the proceedings.
(5) Any right of appeal to the Court of Appeal from the decision of the Tribunal conferred by subsection (4) of this section shall be exercised in accordance with the provisions of the rules of court for the time being in force regulating the powers, practice and procedure of the Court of Appeal.
(6) Nothing in this section shall prejudice the prosecution of a public officer punished under this section, or preclude such officer from being prosecuted or punished for an offence in a court of law.
(7) The provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, relating to prerogative of mercy, shall not apply to any punishment imposed in accordance with the provisions of this section .

(1) The rules of procedure to be adopted in any prosecution for the offences under this Act before the Tribunal, and the forms to be used in such prosecutions shall be as set out in the Third Schedule to this Act.
[Third Schedule.]
(2) Prosecutions for all offences referred to in this Act shall be instituted in the name of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the Attorney-General of the Federation or such officers in the Federal Ministry of Justice as the Attorney-General of the Federation may authorise so to do.
(3) For the purpose of subsection (2) of this section, the Attorney-General of the Federation may-
(a) after consultation with the Attorney-General of any State in the Federation, authorise any officer of the Ministry of Justice of the State concerned to undertake any such prosecutions directly or assist therein; or
(b) if the Tribunal so requests, or if contingencies so dictate, authorise any other legal practitioner in Nigeria to undertake any such prosecution or assist therein:
Provided that the question whether any authority has been given in pursuance of this subsection shall not be inquired into by any person.
(4) Any person accused of any offence referred to in this Act shall be entitled to defend himself in person or by a person of his own choice who is a legal practitioner resident in Nigeria.

Notwithstanding the provisions of any other enactment conferring power to search, if the chairman of the Tribunal is satisfied that there is a reasonable ground to suspect that there may be found in any building or other place whatsoever, any books, records, statements or information in any form whatsoever, which, in his opinion, are or may be material to the charge or any trial under this Act, he may issue a warrant under his hand authorising any police officer or any member of the security agencies to enter, if necessary by force, the said building or other place and every part thereof, and to search for, seize and remove any such material as aforesaid, found therein.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"the Bureau" means the Code of Conduct Bureau established by the Constitution and under section I of this Act;
[Cap. C23.]
"business" means any profession, vocation, trade or any adventure or concern in the nature of trade, and excludes farming;
"child" includes a step-child, a lawfully adopted child, a child born out of wedlock and any child to whom any individual stands in place of a parent;
"emolument" means any salary, wage, overtime or leave pay, commission, fee, bonus, gratuity, benefit, advantage (whether or not the allowance, pension or annuity is paid, given or granted in respect of any employment or office);
"functions" includes powers and duties;
"foreign companies" or "foreign enterprises" means companies or enterprises in which the controlling shares are owned by persons other than the Government, its agencies or citizens of Nigeria;
"members" includes the members of the Bureau or the Tribunal as the case may be;
"public officer" means a person holding any of the offices specified in the Second Schedule to this Act;
"the Tribunal" means the Tribunal established by and under section 20 of this Act.

This Act may be cited as Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.