Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana SAN, has condemned the Code of Conduct Bureau over its refusal to grant a Freedom of Information request by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project on the ground that asset declaration form is private information. Falana said, “With respect, it is illogical to claim that the asset declaration forms submitted by the erstwhile public officers are private documents. “Having managed the Petroleum Trust Fund under the Sani Abacha junta President Buhari should have no difficulty in investing the recovered loot in addressing the crises of insecurity and unemployment. “In fact, both the UN Convention against Corruption and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption clearly articulate important roles for civil society in the fight against corruption.”“A good example of the role civil society can play is that currently being played by SERAP, a Nigerian based human rights and anti-corruption NGO. But as corruption in Nigeria has assumed a dangerous dimension due to the anti-people’s economic programme of the government CSOs must link up with the people in combating the menace of corruption.”DOWNLOAD THE PUNCH NEWS APP NOW ON

Source: Punch June 19, 2019 07:52 UTC