Code of Conduct Bureau challenges will be addressed – Akpabiol

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio has assured the board and management of the Code of Conduct Bureau(CCB) of the readiness and commitment of the Senate to addressing the challenges facing the Bureau.

Akpabio gave the assurance on Thursday when members of the Code of Conduct Bureau, led by its Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Bello, paid him a courtesy visit in his office.

The Senate President acknowledged the relevance of the CCB, describing it as a “very important agency of government, not only in terms of bringing about moral rectitude but also in terms of discipline of public officers and ensuring accountability.”

“We don’t normally clear any public officer in the Senate unless we are assured that the person has attached acknowledgement form of his declaration of assets before the Code of Conduct Bureau.

“We are happy that you have enunciated the vision of what you want to do because if you don’t have a conducive working environment, there is no way you could achieve much,” Akpabio said.

On the complaint of inadequate budgetary allocation, the Senate President told the delegation that it had come to the right place and at the right time.

“We will engage those who are involved in bringing budgetary estimates before the National Assembly. We will engage them to let them know that the Code of Conduct Bureau cannot be stifled of fund otherwise it will not achieve much for the country.

“We have taken serious parliamentary note of your requests and we will definitely do something and get back to you as soon as possible.

“I assure you of our readiness to work with you and the entirety of the Bureau to achieve the aims for which the agency is set up. I appreciate this visit and I assure you of our collaboration,” he said.

Earlier, the CCB chairman who led the delegation, Dr Abdullahi Bello told the Senate President of the many challenges facing the Bureau and pleaded for the intervention of the Senate.

The challenges, according to him, included inadequate funding and issues about office accommodation, manpower and logistics.