Fayemi Seeks Abrogation Of Law Against Foreign Account

Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has called on the National Assembly to amend the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with an aim to compel public officials to disclose their foreign accounts for close monitoring by anti-corruption

 agencies rather than restraining them from operating foreign bank accounts.

  'If we are serious about curbing corruption, there are other things we ought to do that we are not doing. What we should do is to ensure that everyone who owns a foreign account make full disclosure of that account.

  'The law barring public office holders from operating foreign accounts is very unrealistic, false and primitive and must be done away with. Those who steal public funds don't use their own foreign accounts to perpetrate money laundering'.

Fayemi, who admitted that he was forced to close his foreign accounts in consonance with the Code of Conduct law, bemoaned that public office holders who lived abroad would have difficulties making their transactions such as children's school fees and mortgage among others.

Commenting on the trial of Senator Bola Tinubu at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Fayemi, who said ACN was clearly in support of government in sanitizing the country of gross corruption, described the present predicament of the former Lagos State Governor and leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) as politically motivated as well as a 'judicial lynching which is not unconnected with the subterranean moves ahead of the 2015 elections.'

'Of all the accounts listed in the papers, in relation to Tinubu, these are accounts in his name. They are not accounts in some institutional frames and the point that has been made is that 'did he run the accounts during this period or not? But now it is in court, I don't want to comment on the issue. Let's leave it to the lawyers who are handling it on behalf of our leader.'