The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has submitted a petition to the Senate concerning the planned screening and confirmation of Murtala Aliyu Kankia, the Katsina State representative for the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The petition, dated February 10th, 2023, was addressed to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions, Senator Ayo Akinyelure of the PDP Ondo Central.
The NYCN has requested that the committee halt the screening and confirmation of Kankia due to the contravention of the 1999 Constitution.
The petitioners argue that, in presenting Kankia’s name to the Senate, the president violated the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which prohibits members of political parties from holding such positions.
The NYCN claims that Kankia resigned from the CCB to contest in the primaries for the ticket of the House of Representatives under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which indicates his political affiliation and potential for political influence.
The NYCN has called for Kankia’s nomination to be rejected and for the Senate to conduct a thorough investigation of the Code of Conduct Bureau’s activities. The petitioners have promised to defend the petition in front of the Senate.
The petition read, “We write on behalf of the leadership of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, the umbrella body championing the cause of the Nigerian youths and our partner Civil Society Groups that serve as the conscience of the nation on the above subject matter to draw your attention and expedite actions that will forestall the collapse of a significant public service institution as the Code of Conduct Bureau.
“In the build-up to the 2023 political Party primaries elections, some members of the Code of Conduct Bureau resigned to contest elections. Among those who resigned is Barr. Murtala Aliyu Kankia who contested under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the primaries for the ticket of the House of Representatives. By Barr. Kankia’s full and proper participation in the said primaries, it is proven beyond any iota of doubt that he not only is a member of a political Party – the All Progressives Congress – but will always be influenced by political considerations having participated at such high level of political horse-trading.
“On the heels of the aforestated and the sacrosanct provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the relevant Public Service Rules that we herein draw your patriotic attention to the nomination of Barr. Murtala Aliyu Kankia. Barr. Kankia’s nomination incontrovertibly falls short of provisions of Sections 153, 154, and 155 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the third Schedule thereof. The sole purpose of Barr. Kankia’s resignation was to enable him to contest elections as a card-carrying member of the APC and his resignation also came on the grounds of ethics as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari that Public Office holders should not be drawn to the murky waters of politics – a scenario that will play out is this nomination is allowed to scale through.
“This revered Committee might recall that the case of Barr. Kankia is akin to that of Mrs Lauretta Onochie whose nomination as a Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission was widely criticised, opposed and rejected by Nigerians. Subsequently, the Senate stood for honour and safeguarding our sacred Constitution and national ethics by not confirming that nomination. The Code of Conduct Bureau is an even more sensitive body than the INEC in terms of tolerance to any form of bias seeing that it governs and monitors the Conduct of all Public Officials throughout the odyssey of their respective services. Imperatively, all members must be balanced and impartial. The same cannot be said of Barr. Murtala Aliyu Kankia in this instance.
“Furthermore, the records show that Barr. Murtala Aliyu Kankia did compromise on several critical cases while he still held Office as Commissioner in charge of Investigation, Intelligence and Monitoring. His appointment calls for questioning having sabotaged many petitions brought to the Bureau by Nigerians. Prominent among the compromised cases are:
“The case of the erstwhile Accountant General of the Federation – Mr Ahmed Idris. The matter was brought before the CCB in 2019, thorough investigations were made, and findings established the fact that Ahmed Idris had abused public office and used same to amass billions. This investigation never saw the light of day as it was swept under the carpet under Barr. Kankia’s watch. It only took the eagled eyes of the EFCC to unravel the seething crime two years after.
“The case of Regina Dominic is another very sorry episode in which the whistleblowers who exposed the stealing of Public funds by the said Regina Dominic were persecuted, which hunted and jailed as a result of the compromise from the investigative department of the CCB.
“On ethical grounds, it is established that several high profile cases were never charged to the Code of Conduct Tribunal for proper prosecution. This is traceable to the Commissioner in a charge of Intelligence, Investigation and Monitoring who played active roles in sabotaging transparency and fairness. It remains to be seen that the reputation, integrity and functionality of the CCB will be more deeply impinged upon if the nomination of Barr. Murtala Aliyu Kankia is allowed to stand.
We, therefore, pray the Senate throws out the Nomination of Barr. Murtala Aliyu Kankia; Conduct a detailed investigation on the activities of the Code of Conduct Bureau as to why the Agency has remained comatose in recent times.
“We shall be available to defend this petition at all times. Please accept the assurances of our highest esteem and fervid support for national development.”
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