Senate Begins Amendment Of Ccb, Cct Acts ‘to Save Nigerians From Desperate Politicians’

BEVERLY HILLS, April 13, (THEWILL) – The Upper Chamber of the National Assembly has kick started a process of amending the Code of Conduct Act to make the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, and the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, independent as noted by its sponsor.

The bill, entitled: “Code of Conduct Act CAP C15 LFN 2004 (Amendment) Bill, 2016 (SB 248)”, easily scaled the crucial first reading same Tuesday that the “Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 (Amendment) Bill 2016 (SB249) was read the first time.

Sponsor of the Bill, Senator Peter Nwaboshi (Delta North) told reporters that the bill aims to save Nigerians from desperate and overzealous politicians, describing same as “a patriotic” piece of legislation.

Speaking on the proposed amendment coming at a time the Senate President, Bukola Saraki is standing trial at the CCT, the lawmaker said he was prompted to initiate the bill after reading the judgment of the Supreme Court on the trial of Saraki, stressing that whether timing or no timing, his duty is to Nigerians and to Nigerians alone.

Explaining what he meant that the objective of the bill is to save Nigerians from overzealous and desperate politicians, he said: “The CCB and the CCT are under the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. It is clear to every Nigerian that the SGF is a politician. He can use the organs as a weapon against his opponents.

“Since the Supreme Court has ruled that the CCT is a court, the CCB and CCT should not report to a politician. It should be made an independent body that should be seen to be neutral and independent of any politician.

“The original framers of the CCB and CCT Act did not intend to create and institution that should be used as a weapon by an individual,” Nwaboshi stated.