The
Kogi West People’s Assembly have urged the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to
investigate an alleged breach of paragraph 3, Part I of the 5th Schedule to the
1999 Constitution as amended and Section 7 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and
Tribunal Act by Senator Dino Melaye. The lawmaker represents Kogi West in the
upper chamber of the National Assembly.
In
a petition through their solicitors – Messrs A.Y. Mohammed & Co – to the
CCB Chairman, Mr. Sam Saba, the group accused the senator of violating the laws
of the land, which bar public office holders from maintaining and operating
foreign bank accounts, alleging that the lawmaker has two accounts in the
United States (U.S.).
An
official of the CCB yesterday confirmed the receipt of the petition. The
official, who pleaded for anonymity, said: “Yes, the petition is with us and we
are working on it.”
When
asked the date the petition was received and how far the bureau had gone with
its investigations, the official declined comment.
The
group also alleged that the two accounts -a current and a savings- were opened
with the Bank of America in the State of Maryland under a false claim by
Melaye, who allegedly posed as a student. It gave the current account number as
446016498396 and the savings account as 4460164775966. Both accounts were
opened in the name of “Daniel Din Melaye”.
The
group’s members said the petition was informed by their “firm belief in the
sanctity of the constitution, the rule of law, the anti-corruption drive of the
present administration and, finally, the burden of duty to hold public office holders
to account, especially elected representatives of the people, for their actions
while in office.”
The
petitioners alleged that the last transactions on the accounts took place last
December 4 when the owner authorised payment relating to the purchase of goods
from a Kremlin-based “Magnitkkosmetic store”.
They
alleged that a similar payment approved on September 1 last year by Melaye to a
New York-based Schweppes Dermatology, was reported by an online news
publication, Sahara
Reporters, on March 14.
Insisting
that the senator, falling within the public officer categorisation, going by
paragraph 16 of Parties II of the 5th Schedule to the 1999 Constitution as
amended and the Second Schedule to the CCB & T Act, has run foul of the
rules, they urged the bureau to act on their petition.
Copies
of the petition, signed on behalf of the group by A.Y. Mohammed Esq., were sent
to the chairmen of anti-graft British agencies, Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practice and other related Offences
Commission (ICPC), as well as the Director-General of the Department of State
Services (DSS).
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Politics