By Tobias Lengnan Dapam
Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), has trained public servants on new Online Assets Declaration System (OADS).
The training which was supported by the European Union/IDEA’s Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (ROLAC) Programme was in collaboration with the Code of Conduct Bureau, (CCB).
Speaking at the capacity building workshop which took place on Monday and Tuesday in Abuja, the Executive Director of CSJ, Eze Onyekpere, said the workshop was part of a systematic partnership, aimed at developing learning and everyday use materials for public officers on the new Online Assets Declaration System (OADS), and secondly
to build capacity across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) at the federal and state levels – six focal states.
“The states are Anambra, Edo, Lagos, Plateau, Adamawa
and Kano states as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended mandates every
public officer, from the Cleaner in the Local Government to the President of the Federal
Republic to declare his assets and liabilities at given periods.
“It also establishes the Code
of Conduct Bureau which oversees and manages the assets and liabilities declaration
system. If every public officer complies with the law, there will be not less than ten million
declarations of assets and liabilities. Continuing with the old paper, analogue declaration
of assets will involve massive logistics challenges ranging from storage space, protection
from pests and rodents, processing, verification and follow-up activities. Hence the need and imperative of the OADS. But the OADS can only work effectively when declarants
understand their duties and how they can practically declare their assets on the electronic
platform. This informs the capacity building which involves public officers being the supply
side as well as civil society organisations and the media from the demand side.
“For CSJ, the benefits that will accrue from this workshop are legion in consideration of
our vision and mission. We envision a Nigeria where social justice informs public decision-
making and guarantees respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all. The
mission is to be a principal catalyst in mainstreaming social justice in public life through
policy engagements and interventions that bring about economic, political and social
reforms, rights enhancement and sustainable livelihoods. The vision and mission cannot
be realized in a social milieu of pervasive corruption where an ethics in governance
regime is not mainstreamed. Essentially, our commitment to systems change cannot be
accomplished with doing business as usual. It entails a new mindset, a new paradigm
that leapfrogs existing challenges and provide solutions.
“The practical benefits expected to accrue from the OADS include ease of compliance for
declarants – no need for collection of forms, going before a judge, etc.; ease of managing
the process for the Bureau – doing away with the analogue and undue paper work; quality
control – with a digitized system and relevant software, red flags and control issues will
be easier and automatically raised; improving the verification process and interagency
collaboration – with databases available on Bank Verification Number, National
Identification Number, Land Registry, Drivers’ License, etc; facilitating the realisation of
core objectives of the assets declaration system – more public officers will be able to
declare their assets; reducing the cost of running the assets and liabilities declaration system for both the declarant and the Bureau; and improving transparency, etc.”
