A Lagos-based law firm, Lawflex, has asked the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to prosecute the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, for failing to declare his offshore holdings and their associated assets in the Pandora Papers exposé.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that in a recent letter signed by Olukoya Ogungbeje and received by the CCB, the firm said that Obi flouted the code of conduct for Nigerian public officials and urged the Bureau to “act appropriately” by arraigning the former Anambra State governor. According to the law firm, Obi contravened the Code of Conduct for Nigerian Public Officers as spelt out in the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, (As Amended).
Recall that a 2021 investigation revealed that as a governor, Obi continued to operate and maintain foreign accounts including with Lloyds in the United Kingdom (UK).
The former governor admitted that he did not declare these companies and the funds and properties they hold in his asset declaration filings with the CCB, the Nigerian government agency that deals with the issues of corruption, conflict of interest, and abuse of office by public servants.
Other prominent Nigerians involved in similar offshore dealings include the acting Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Mohammed Bello-Koko; the former Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah; former governor of Osun, Gboyega Oyetola and his Kebbi State counterpart, Atiku Bagudu. They have all denied any wrongdoing.
