Senator Bola Tinubu, Former Governor of Lagos state


The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has said it never released the case file of former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bolaji Tinubu ,to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officially, saying the means through which the commission got the file is a mystery.

CCB South West Federal Commissioner, Dr. Ademola Adebo , disclosed to THISDAY in an interview in Lagos that if the bureau never gave the commission Tinubu’s case file, the outgoing Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Bello Adoke “has to explain how he obtained the file from the bureau.

It will be recalled hat, shortly before 2007, the bureau had initiated an investigation into the foreign accounts, which Tinubu was allegedly operating during his two-term administration, to establish whether the former governor actually violated any of its 14 codes as stated in the Constitution.

Adebo, who was in Lagos last week alongside other members of a seven-man panel verifying assets of the public officers in the state, also hinted that the bureau could not conclude investigation into Tinubu’s foreign account because of immunity.

According to him, “there was a case in the bureau while Tinubu was Lagos State Governor. The case then was a case of having a foreign account. The case went before the Code of Conduct Tribunal and somehow it was inconclusive due to the fact that he had immunity then.”

The commissioner acknowledged that the bureau was aware of a media statement that the Attorney-General had taken Tinubu’s case file to the EFCC, thus wondering “how the file got to the commission because the file was not officially released to either the EFCC or the AGF.”

He further queried that what “has to be clarified here is whether the said case file was that of the EFCC or CCB. But remember that the information we collate are constitutionally protected. We do not have the power to give it out to anyone or any organisation.

“So, if the Attorney General is claiming that the CCB gave him the file, he has to explain how he obtained it. One of our problems is that people occupying offices want to use the office to gain popularity rather than build that office to become a stronger institution. We will rather strengthen our individual position rather than the office,” he added.

Adebo acknowledged that Tinubu’s case “was inconclusive then according to information available to us because Tinubu could not be prosecuted because of immunity”.

Asked whether Tinubu’s case can be revisited, the commissioner said if the case “can be reopened, it will have to be reopened only by the prerogative of the bureau not by either bowing to the public pressure or because of the need to do justice in the matter.”

According to him, “it is not only Tinubu. We have so many pending or inconclusive cases. But now that we have a full complement of the Bureau, we are now looking at all those pending cases and asking ourselves the possibility of reopening the cases.”

He added that the bureau “has not really addressed that issue because we want all political air surrounding it to die down. So, once the case gets to the CCT, then the Attorney General can take over.

“I can assure you that we are not going to shy away from taking decisions that will be in the interest of Nigerians. What the bureau will not tolerate is for some people to use it for political purpose,” thus acknowledging that the AGF has constitutional power to take over any case.

He said the AGF “has constitutional power to withdraw or take over any case in the country, but he cannot take over my own constitutional power because the CCB is not under the Attorney General. If he tries to do that, we will go to court and seek judicial interpretation.

“We are an autonomous body and only the National Assembly has oversight power over us. So if, the Attorney General said he has taken over the case from the EFCC, he has the right to do so. But that cannot be done in the name of CCB,” Adebo explained.