The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) says it will partner with the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to achieve its mandate of actualising a corruption-free society.
The Chairman of the bureau, -Prof. Isa Muhammed said this when he led a team of officers on a courtesy visit to the Nigeria Immigration Service on Wednesday in Abuja.
He noted that such collaboration was necessary as it would complement the Federal Government’s efforts at checking corrupt practices and persons in the country.
He added that the mandate of enforcing compliance with the code of conduct of public officers could not be done in isolation.
“We have been having a lot challenges with public officers declaring their assets.
“That is why we are here to solicit your support in this area, to ensure that movement of anybody under investigation can be halted from travelling outside the country.
“I will like to add that declaration of assets is not meant to probe or spy on what a public officer has, but to protect such person from being probe unnecessarily when leaving the office.
“It is a double edge mechanism to ensure that corruption is removed from the public service.
“However, a public officer must also be ready to give satisfactory explanation of his accumulated assets before and after he leaves the office,” he said.
In his remark, the Comptroller-Generall, NIS, Muhammad Babandede, noted that the service was ready to work with the bureau to make the country a better place.
He added that the part of the effort at ensuring compliance with the declaration of assets of public officers, the service would ensure enforcement with its internal staff.
“We are ready to work with you to make Nigeria a corruption-free society.
“The service will ensure that henceforth, at the point of employment, our recruited staff declare their assets.
“However, we will like a representative of the bureau to come to our training school to put us through on the essence of declaring one’s asset as a public officer.
“Also, anytime you have a public officer that is wanted for investigation, you can inform us and we will get such person arrested before he travels out of the country,” he said.
