The Court of Appeal in Abuja has ruled on separate appeals seeking an order compelling the Code of Conduct Bureau to release the asset declaration forms of former presidents, their vice presidents, and National Assembly principal officers.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Okon Abang, the court dismissed the appeals, deeming them immature.
Justice Abang noted that at the time the suits were filed, the National Assembly had not established written guidelines for public access to asset declaration forms or the disclosure of information contained in them.
The appellants were advised to first seek a court order compelling the National Assembly to establish such guidelines before approaching the Code of Conduct Bureau for the disclosure of personal information relating to former officeholders’ asset declarations.
Furthermore, Justice Abang held that the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, relied upon by the appellants, were not aligned with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
As a consequence of the dismissal, the court awarded costs of two hundred thousand naira each against the appellants.
The cases were brought before the court by the Public and Private Development Centre and the Incorporated Trustees of the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy.
They had separately sued the Code of Conduct Bureau and its chairman before a Federal Capital Territory High Court for their refusal to release the asset declaration forms of former public officeholders.
The appellants sought the asset declaration forms of former President Goodluck Jonathan, his Vice President Namadi Sambo, former President Muhammadu Buhari, his Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and former National Assembly principal officers.
The trial judge had dismissed the applications, citing the absence of prescribed terms and conditions for access to the forms by the National Assembly. Dissatisfied with the ruling, the appellants approached the Court of Appeal seeking redress.
