CCB verifies asset declarations of 108 high-risk public officials
June 26, 2026 7:05 am
By Sami Tunji
The Code of Conduct Bureau has completed the verification of asset declarations submitted by 108 high-risk public officials, including ministers, permanent secretaries and heads of government agencies, as part of efforts to strengthen accountability in public service.
The Executive Chairman of the CCB, Dr Abdullahi Bello, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at the graduation ceremony of the second cohort of Agora Policy’s Policy Writing Fellowship and the unveiling of the Local Governance Accountability Portal and the Policy Registry.
The event, organised by Agora Policy with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, also featured the launch of two digital platforms aimed at promoting evidence-based policymaking, transparency and public accountability.
Bello said the verification exercise covered 19 ministers, 37 permanent secretaries, 20 heads of agencies and 32 other high-risk public officials.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen integrity and accountability in public service, the Code of Conduct Bureau has completed verification of asset declarations for high-risk public servants.
“This exercise covered 19 Ministers, 37 Permanent Secretaries, 20 Heads of Agencies, and 32 other high-risk officials,” he said.
He also announced that the bureau’s Online Asset and Liabilities Declaration System had been fully developed and was ready for deployment and testing.
“I am also pleased to announce that our Online Asset and Liabilities Declaration System is now 100 per cent developed and ready for deployment and testing. This platform will hold the asset declaration database of all public servants in Nigeria,” Bello said.
According to him, the bureau welcomes partnerships that improve public access to governance data without compromising the privacy and security of declarants.
He further disclosed that the bureau had intensified its enforcement activities by recovering assets and prosecuting public officials accused of breaching the Code of Conduct.
“As part of our enforcement drive, the Bureau has also secured the forfeiture of several assets, including a property in London. We have referred numerous cases to the Code of Conduct Tribunal, and just yesterday we arraigned the Chief of Staff to a State Governor before the Tribunal.
“These actions demonstrate our firm resolve to hold public officers accountable regardless of their position or status,” Bello added.
The CCB chairman also described the newly launched Local Governance Accountability Portal as an important tool for promoting transparency at the grassroots.
“The LGA Portal, which provides free access to financial allocations to local councils from 1999 to date, together with council profiles and the names of elected officials, is a powerful instrument for promoting transparency and accountability at the grassroots level,” he said.
According to Bello, the platform would enable citizens, journalists, researchers and civil society organisations to monitor public resources and demand improved service delivery.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, said weak policymaking and poor implementation had remained major obstacles to Nigeria’s development.
Represented by the commission’s Commander and Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwujaren, Olukoyede commended Agora Policy for addressing the gaps through research, policy development and human capital capacity building.
“As the chairman of an agency dedicated to promoting transparency and public accountability, I am impressed by the investment of Agora Policy in strengthening transparency and accountability at the third tier of government, the local government, with the launch today of the Local Governance Accountability Portal,” he said.
“The initiative, for me, is a game-changer, as it promises to lift the veil of opacity that forecloses scrutiny of public expenditures at this tier of government.”
Olukoyede said local government finances had remained largely shielded from public scrutiny for decades.
“For decades, releases to local governments from the Federation Account, management of internally generated revenues and expenditures by the councils have been under a mighty cloak of secrecy.
“And, where records are inaccessible, where citizens cannot interrogate what was received against what was spent, and where elected and appointed officials operate without the discipline of public scrutiny, accountability takes flight. All that is about to change with the portal being unveiled today,” he said.
He noted that the portal, which provides free access to local government allocations from 1999 alongside council profiles and details of elected officials, would place critical information in the hands of citizens.
“The platform does something that legislation alone has struggled to achieve. It puts information in the hands of citizens.
“Common wisdom indicates that information in the right hands is the beginning of accountability. As we have seen, in countries that made sub-national fiscal transparency a priority, the combination of open data platforms and an informed citizenry creates a culture in which public officials are held accountable for the management of public resources and citizens actively participate in governance processes,” he added.
Olukoyede also said the newly launched Policy Registry would provide policymakers, researchers, journalists and citizens with a consolidated repository of policy documents, strengthening public oversight and improving policy continuity.
Earlier, the Founder and Executive Director of Agora Policy, Waziri Adio, said the Local Governance Accountability Portal was developed to address the accountability deficit at the grassroots despite the significant increase in resources flowing to local governments.
According to him, local governments receive substantial statutory allocations from the Federation Account, value-added tax and state internally generated revenue, with the least-funded council receiving about N500m monthly from FAAC alone.
“Enormous resources are pouring into our LGAs, especially in the last three years. From FAAC alone, the least allocation to an LGA is about N500m monthly. Alimosho LGA received N4.9bn for January 2026 alone,” Adio said.
He, however, lamented that the increased allocations had not translated into better governance.
“Our LGAs are almost a black hole, and as a result where the government should be closest to the people, where government should be felt the most, is where it is absent the most,” he said.
Adio said the portal was designed to empower citizens, civic groups, journalists and researchers with accessible data to hold local government officials accountable.
In her keynote address, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination and Head of the Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit, Hadiza Usman, described the Local Governance Accountability Portal and the Policy Registry as important tools for deepening democratic governance.
“The Local Governance Accountability Portal and the Policy Registry are not merely digital platforms. They are instruments for deepening the relationship between information, participation and accountability,” she said.
Usman urged citizens, journalists and civil society organisations to make active use of the information available on the platforms.
“Transparency is only the beginning. Data must be used. Citizens must engage it. Journalists must interrogate it. Researchers must analyse it. Civil society must translate it into advocacy. Public officials must treat it as an opportunity to improve performance and rebuild trust,” she added.
The PUNCH earlier reported that the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Abdullahi Bello, said the agency was close to finalising a new digital asset and liability declaration system aimed at eliminating bureaucratic delays, boosting transparency, and strengthening anti-corruption controls in the public service.
Sami Tunji is a Senior Business Correspondent at Punch Newspapers with about five years of experience in data-driven reporting. He covers finance, ICT, and broader macroeconomic issues, combining analytical insight with clear storytelling. Sami’s work reflects strong editorial judgment, professional development, and a commitment to accurate and informative business journalism.
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