Prof. Mohammed Isah, Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), says the bureau remains independent and not under government’s interference in its anti-corruption crusade.
There has been insinuation that the CCB takes instructions from sitting presidents at various times time with critics insisting that Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and now Muhammadu Buhari at a point in time tele-guided the Bureau to play according to the dictates of the Presidency.
Isah said this when he featured on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja.
He noted that for any anti-corruption agency to curb the menace of corruption in the country, such organisation must be neutral with no interference from the government and its agencies.
“CCB is very much independent as Section 158 sub section one of the constitution is very clear on this.
“That CCB is not subject to any power or authority in discharging its mandate.
“This is the decision reached by the Supreme Court in 2018 in the case of Bukola Saraki versus FIN. Therefore, we are independent, we are neutral.
“We are neutral, but the type of independence of CCB is away from the government even though we receive subvention from the government.
“Our staff are paid salaries by the government, so we don’t have any independence of our own money.
However, I am not trying to tell you that he who pays the piper dictates the tune.
“The independence is for us to discharge our duty; no pressure at all from anybody,” Isah said. (NAN)
