President Bola Tinubu has nominated three new members to fill existing vacancies on the board of the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB.
According to Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga,The announcement was made in a formal letter addressed to the Senate President” on Tuesday titled ‘President Tinubu nominates three new board members for the Code of Conduct Bureau.’
The nominees are Fatai Ibikunle from Oyo State, Kennedy Ikpeme from Cross River, and Justice Ibrahim Buba, a retired Federal High Court judge.
They will form the bureau’s 10-member board to “enhance oversight mechanisms,” according to Onanuga.
The Code of Conduct Bureau, founded in 1979, is vital to upholding integrity in public service and ensuring conformity with the country’s ethical standards.
The Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, Chapter 58 LFN 1990, requires the Bureau, among other things, to receive asset declarations from public officers, examine them, retain custody of them, and make them available for inspection by any Nigerian citizen on the terms and conditions prescribed by the National Assembly.
On October 23, 2024, Tinubu swore in Dr. Abdullahi Bello as chairman of the board.
Muritala Kankia, E. J. Agbomayinma, Ben Umeano, and Prof. Juwayriyya Badamasiuy make up the current board of directors. Mr. Bulus Zephaniah and Abdulsalam Olawale round up the group.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
