Dubai Assets: How Buratai got CCB clearance —Lawyer

A legal practitioner, Mr. Ugochukwu Osuagwu, whose firm wrote a letter to the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, deman-ding for information on assets declared by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, has opened up on how the Army boss got clearance for his controversial assets in Dubai.
Osuagwu, who is the Principal of St. Francis Xavier Solicitors & Advocates, said, yesterday in Abuja, he approached the CCB and requested to be furnished with contents of Buratai’s Assets Form, pursuant to Section 1 and 4 of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011.
He said the Bureau responded through a letter dated July 11, with Reference number CCB/HQ/671/G/1/6 and signed by Mrs. Ijeanuli Arinze Ofor on behalf of Chairman of the CCB, Mr. Sam Saba.
According to him, the CCB, in its response, disclosed that Buratai duly declared his controversial Dubai assets upon his appointment as Commander, Multinational Joint Task Force in May 2015, and also on his appointment as Chief of Army Staff in July 2015.
Osuagwu noted that the CCB, aside furnishing his firm with the requested information, equally issued double clearance to Buratai.
He said: “It should be noted that it is the requirement of the Law for Public Officers to declare assets on, among others, assumption of office.
“Note that upon comple-tion of the exercise, public officers are issued with certificate of Assets Conference Verification/Field Verification as the case may be.
“It is interesting to note that Lt. Gen. Buratai Tukur Yusufu, who was previou-sly cleared by the CCB has again been cleared after CCB completed its Verification of Assets declaration of Lt. Gen. Buratai by its officers.”
“With the issuance of certificate of satisfactory verification to Lt. Gen. Buratai, it therefore closes every chapter on the vexed issue whether he declared the said Dubai flat”, he added.
He said the CCB chairman, Saba, while responding to further inquiry, disclosed that the clearance the Bureau issued to Buratai and 15 other public officers, freed them from liability of criminal prosecution.
Osuagwu quoted Saba as saying: “Even though the tribunal is the institution with the power of adjudication in asset declaration breaches, the certificate means that from our own end, we are satisfied with the verification that we have done”.
It will be recalled that the CCB, last week, said it has commenced its 2016 4th Quarter Cycle of Conference and Field Verification of Assets of top public officers.
Among 76 top government officials the Bureau summoned to declare their assets or face possible prosecution, included 30 Ministers, Rotimi Amaechi (Transportation); Babatunde Fashola (Power, Works and Housing); Ibe Kachikwu (Petroleum Resources (State); Abubakar Malami (Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice); Adebayo Shittu (Communications); Dr. Kayode Fayemi (Solid Minerals and Steel Development); Audu Ogbeh (Agriculture and Rural Development).
Others include Senator Aisha Alhassan (Women Affairs and Social Development); Solomon Dalung (Youths & Sports Development); Osagie Ehanire (Health (State); Usani Usani (Niger Delta Affairs); Prof. Anthony Anwukah (Education (State); Lai Mohammed (Information and Culture), and Gen. Ali Mansur (retd.) (Defence).
Senator Udo Udoma (Budget and National Planning); Ibrahim Jibril (Environment (State); Suleiman Adamu (Water Resources and Rural Development); Mustapha Shehuri (Power (State); Prof. Claudius Daramola (Niger Delta Affairs (State) and Kemi Adeosun (Finance), Prof. Isaac Adewole (Health); Okechukwu Enelamah (Trade, Investment and Industry); Geoffrey Onyema (Foreign Affairs ); Muhammadu Bello (Federal Capital Territory); Senator Hadi Sirika (Aviation (State); Hajiya Khadija Bukar (Foreign Affairs(State); Senator Chris Ngige (Labour and Employment); Heineken Lokpobiri (Agriculture and Rural Development (State); Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu (Science and Technology); and Abubakar Bwari (Solid Minerals (State).
Others are Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele; Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Oyo-Ita Ekanem; Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olanishakin; Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Abubakar Sadique; and the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibas Ibok.
As well as the immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase; Chairman, Police Service Commission, Chief Mike Okiro; Controller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Babatunde Mohammed; Executive Secretary of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Waziri Adio; Director-General of National Pension Commission, Mrs. Chinelo Amazu; and Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, Export Promotion Council, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, among others.