Assets Declaration: ex-Naval Chief, Jibrin to face CCB soon

.Violates Code of Conduct for public officers
.He never declared his assets as required by law, says CCB
.I served Nigeria meritoriously- Jibrin

Former Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin (rtd), may soon have a date with the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) as he failed to declare his assets while in office, The Daily Times findings reveal.

Though every public officer has been enjoined to declare his assets before the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) as stipulated in section 11 (1) (a) (b) of the CCB’s Public Officers Handbook, former Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) was unable to declare his assets while in office.

Jibrin, the former Naval Chief between 2013 and 2015, was listed as No 8 among the public office holders expected to declare his assets on assumption office.
But multiple sources at the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) confided in The Daily Times on Wednesday night that the ex-Naval chief never declared his assets as required by the law.

Incidentally, some elected and public officials including former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu and Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, among others had been arraigned before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over false declarations of assets.

The said section 11 (1) (a) (b) of the CCB states that, “Every public officer shall within three months after taking office and thereafter (a) at the end of every four years and (b) at the end of his term of office; submit to the Code of Conduct Bureau a written declaration of all his properties, assets and liabilities and those of his spouse or unmarried children under the age of 21 years.”

Regarding the non-compliance on assets declaration, section 3 (e) of the third schedule, Part 1 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) states that, ” The Code of Conduct Bureau shall receive complaints about non-compliance with or breach of the provisions of the Code of Conduct or any law in relation thereto, investigate the complaint and where appropriate, refer such matters to the Code of Conduct Tribunal.”

But the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has in the course of its investigation over the various allegations against Jibrin, contacted the CCB over the assets declaration of the ex-Naval chief.
The CCB replied in a letter dated May 19 that the records before it showed that “Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin (rtd) has never declared his assets as required by the law.”

Meanwhile, the EFCC is prosecuting Jibrin and other accused persons before Justice Sadiq Umar of Abuja High Court over alleged involvement in the diversion of N600million funds of the Nigerian Navy to personal use.

But Jibrin in an open letter to the EFCC chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, stated that he has served the country meritoriously, saying that it is regrettable that some members of certain cabals are using EFCC to settle personal scores.

Jibrin’s letter read in part: “I regret to state that my life has been under threat by operatives of the EFCC since my retirement from active service of the Nigerian Navy on the 14 July 2015.

“This is sequel to the fact that some cabals are hiding under the executive orders of Mr. President to settle scores against me on the perceived injustice allegedly meted on them by the Nigerian Navy during my tenure as the Chief of the Naval Staff.

“I decided to put my thought in writing because of information made available to me from very reliable sources that plans have been concluded to plant incriminating evidence against me by operatives of the EFCC.

“This revelation has pushed me to the wall to speak out as I have observed that silence may not be golden after all in the face of some suspicious activities going around my properties by unknown elements.

“My life is at stake, my dignity is at stake, my integrity is at stake and my name is at stake. I respect the rule of law and detest injustice. Fairly minded officers and men of the Nigerian Navy and those in other Services who worked closely with me could attest to this assertion.

”Let me hastily state that the kernel of my letter to you is to draw your attention to the fact that I now have it on good authority that your organisation is being used by a cabal who are very uncomfortable with my freedom and threatened by my unblemished record as the former Chief of Naval Staff who fought them to a standstill in their illegal bunkering and oil theft.

“They have found your Commission as the right tool to bring me down at all cost. Of course, your organisation working in tandem with the directives issued by these cabals who have concluded plans to plant incriminating materials, including foreign currencies, arms and ammunition, in any or some of my premises/properties and then come up with a trump up charge of financial crime or treasonable felony or illegal possession of weapons/firearms against me.

“This latest machination is to satisfy the cabal that the commission has fulfilled its bidding as well as justify all the raids which failed to produce any expected result.

”It is imperative to state at this juncture that no one has accused me of corruption or at least I am not aware of any written petition against me alleging any wrongdoing in my capacity as the former Chief of Naval Staff.

“I believe that EFCC has a procedure for investigating allegations against any individual, which is mostly predicated on a written petition, which leads to investigation, culminating into invitation of the alleged offender or arrest as the case may be. Subsequently, such offender is charged before a court of competent jurisdiction.

“Ironically, EFCC has never disclosed to me if there is any petition against me or the subject matter of their investigation against me that necessitates the surprise unending searches on my properties. It is worth noting that EFCC has conducted searches on me in 8 locations without discovering incriminating evidence bordering on financial crimes.

“In most cases, my assets were destroyed in my absence without a single apology from the Commission or explanation as to why my properties were raided. In all eight (8) instances, no search warrants were produced before these raids were conducted; neither was I notified.

“Please find enclosed photographs of the series of raids on my premises and the destruction therein. When will the everlasting investigation, which commenced in July 2015, come to an end for me to have my peace in life after active service?

”Suffice it to quickly note that under my watch as Chief of Naval Staff, I arrested over 60 vessels carrying out oil theft and illegal bunkering between January 2014 and July 2015, while discharging my constitutional responsibilities and handed over same and their owners to EFCC for prosecution.

“However, to my utter consternation, many of these suspects have been released and without prosecution, except for two (2) being prosecuted as at February 2017.

“Could it be that the cabals which the EFCC under your watch is acting their script against me are also beneficiaries of the proceeds of the oil theft and illegal bunkering which I stopped.”

Jibrin also urged Magu to put a stop to threat to his life and consistent harassment and destruction of his properties under the guise of some undisclosed investigations.