Code of Conduct for Ministers and Special Advisers to the Federal Government of Nigeria

Preamble

We, the Ministers and Special Advisers of the Federal Government of Nigeria, subscribe to the seven principles of public life, namely:

Selflessness:

Holders of public office should take decisions solely in terms of the public interest. They should not do so in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. 

Integrity:

Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might influence them in the performance of their official duties. 

Objectivity:

In carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices on merit. 

Accountability:

Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office. 

Openness:

Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands it. 

Honesty:

Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest. 

Leadership:

Holders of public office should promote and support these principles by leadership and example. 

WE NOW ADOPT for ourselves and for our successors in office as Ministers and Special Advisers, the following Code of Conduct for Ministers and Special Advisers to which we shall all faithfully comply, in both spirit and to the letter: 

1. Ethical Standards

We shall at all times act with honesty, whether in public or in private affairs, and uphold the highest ethical standards so that the public confidence and trust in the integrity objective and impartially of government are conserved and enhance. 

2. Accountability and Transparency

 We have a responsibility to the public interest, which requires that we put to one side all personal, sectoral and regional interest. We are accountable for our decisions and actions to the public and are prepared to be open to scrutiny by them. To facilitate and inform this process, we shall to the extent possible be open and transparent in the discharge of our public duties and encourage those whom we are responsible to follow our example. 

3. Decision-making

 In fulfilling official duties and responsibilities, we shall put to one side both personal and sectional interests and shall make decisions in the public interest and with regard to the merits of each case without discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, sex, religion or origin other than when acting in furtherance of objectives laid down in the Constitution. 

4. Private Interests

We shall perform our official duties and arrange our private affairs in a manner that will bear the closest public interest, an obligation that is not fully discharged simply by acting within the law but which must also be within the law’s spirit. We shall not have private interests, other than those permitted pursuant to the Code and to the Code of Conduct for Public Officers provided by Constitution, that would be affected particularly or significantly by government actions in which we participate. 

5. Public Interests

On appointment to office and thereafter, we shall arrange our private affairs in a manner that will prevent real, potential or apparent conflicts of interest from arising but if such a conflict does arise between the private interests of a Minister or Special Adviser or his or her close relations and the official duties and responsibilities of that Minister of Special Adviser, the conflict shall be resolved in favour of the public interest. 

6. Conflict of Interests

We shall not exercise an official power or perform an official duty or function in the execution of our office and at the same time know that in the performance of the duty or function or in the exercise of the power, there is the opportunity to further our private interest or those of our friends and relatives over and above the benefits this gives to the wider community. 

We shall not exercise an official power of perform an official duty or function if we have a conflict of interest or an apparent conflict of interest. 

A Minister or Special Adviser has an apparent conflict of interest if there is a reasonable perception, which a reasonably well informed person could properly have, that the Minister’s or Special Adviser’s ability to exercise an official power or perform an official duty or function must have been affected by his or her private interest or those of his or her friends or relatives. 

7. Influence

 We shall not use our office to seek to influence a decision, to be made by another person, to further our private interest or those of our friends and relatives. 

8. Gifts and Benefits

 We shall not solicit gifts of any kind. Nor will we accept transfers of economic benefit, other than incidental gifts, customary hospitality, or other benefits of nominal value as permitted by the Code of Conduct for Public Officials, unless the transfer is pursuant to enforceable contract or property right of the Minister or Special Adviser concerned. 

9. Preferential Treatment

We shall not step outside our official roles to assist private entities or persons in our dealings with the government where this would result in preferential treatment to any person. In particular, we shall not use our office to seek to influence a decision, to be made by another person, to further our observe similar discipline. 

10. Government Property

We have a duty to the people to ensure that public resources are fully and effectively utilised. We shall in the course of our duties climinate waste and extravagance, and ensure that our officials observe similar discipline. 

11. Insider Information

We shall not use information this gained in the execution of our office that is not available to the general public to further or seek to further our private interest or those of our friends or relatives. 

12. Party Politics

We shall not misuse our office for politically partisan purpose. 

13. Post Employment

We shall not act, after we leave public office, in such a manner as to take improper advantage of our previous office. 

14. Ministers and Special Advisers to sign Code

On taking up office, all Ministers and Special Advisers should, as a matter of course, be required to sign the Code of Conduct for Ministers and Special Advisers and at the same time be give a copy for their personal reference. 

WE CONCLUDE BY INVITING His Excellency, President Olusegun Obasanjo to appoint a distinguished citizen held in wide public esteem to be the Custodian of this Code and to provide us with personal counsel as and when we seek his or her guidance AND BY INVITING such Custodian, with assistance from the Secretary to Government, to develop such notes as may be helpful to provide guidance for us in the implementation of this Code.