President Bola Tinubu’s recent congratulatory message to Kresta Laurel Limited, a Lagos-based elevators and escalators distributor, has drawn attention to a possible breach of Nigeria’s Code of Conduct for Public Officers, following his reference to Gbenga Daniel as Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors.
In a statement issued on Thursday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the president hailed Kresta Laurel as a leading indigenous elevator and escalator company with operations across Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
He congratulated the firm’s management and staff on its 35th anniversary, and praised Mr Daniel, a former Ogun State governor and current senator representing Ogun East, for his leadership role in the company.
“The President congratulates Senator Gbenga Daniel, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kresta Laurel Limited and wishes the business more success and many remarkable anniversaries,” the statement reads.
But the president’s statement has drawn scrutiny because the Code of Conduct for Public Officers prescribed in the Nigerian constitution and the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, both prohibit public officers from managing or running private businesses while in office.
Paragraph 2(b) of the Fifth Schedule and Section 6(b) of the Act state that a public officer “shall not engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade.”
“A public officer shall not, except where he is not employed on a full-time basis, engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade; but nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a public officer from engaging in farming,” the Constitution states.
Serving senators are full-time public officers and are therefore barred from holding such positions.
If Mr Daniel still functions as Kresta Laurel’s board chairman, that would amount to a breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.
In a circular dated 10 June 2013, titled, ‘Code of Conduct for Public Officers,’ the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF) reminded all federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of the constitutional ban on public officers engaging in private practice.
The circular, signed by Tope Ajakaiye, Director of Communications, for the Head of Service, warned that civil servants undertaking private business ventures could be acting “to the detriment of the services they were employed to render to the public.”
It further stated that noncompliance would be regarded as misconduct under the public service rules.
The Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) has exclusive jurisdiction for the trial. Breach of the provision attracts sanctions listed under Paragraph 18(2) of the same Schedule, including removal from office and disqualification from holding public positions for up to ten years.
“The punishment which the Code of Conduct Tribunal may impose shall include any of the following: (a) vacation of office or seat in any legislative house, as the case may be; (b) disqualification from holding any public office (whether elective or not) for a period not exceeding ten years; and (c) seizure and forfeiture to the State of any property acquired in abuse or corruption of office.”
Mr Daniel’s camp defends his role
When contacted, Mr Daniel’s media aide, Steve Oliyide, dismissed suggestions that the lawmaker had breached the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.
He argued that Mr Daniel is not involved in the management or running of Kresta Laurel Limited. He insisted that the company is managed by a managing director and a team of executive directors who oversee daily operations.
“A company that has a managing director (Engr. Dideolu Falobi) with several executive directors then what are their duties?
Sourced from Premium Times
