Mrs Sarah Jibril, former Special Adviser to the President on Ethics and Values, has called for the support of the National Assembly to improve the country’s image and establish sound foundation for ethical system in the citizens.
Jibril made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.
She stressed the need for all well-meaning patriotic Nigerians to be ethics and values-compliant, to move the nation forward.
She expressed concerns about the ethics and values deficiency our dear nation is experiencing with the immoral mismanagement of our public national resources by some unethical citizens‘ behaviours.
The former presidential aspirant, said that the bill in the National Assembly aims at positively changing the attitude of Nigerians on ethics and values system, adding that every process of its adoption should be done with due process.
She pleaded with the Senate and House of Representatives to urgently intervene to prevent the unethical hijacking of the Presidential Bill on Ethic and Value at the House of Rep.
She called the attention of lawmakers to a group of people, who are trying to interfere and sabotage the bill, which has not been harmonized by the Senate and House of Representatives.
According to her, part of the Bill clamours for the establishment of the Ethics and Values Compliance Agency, which was initiated by her former office under the past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
She explained that the previous administration could not get the bill to the table for consideration before leaving office, adding that the bill is presently at the House of Representatives.
Jibril stressed the need for the House of Representative’s committee on Ethics and Privileges to get the concurrence of the senate for the bill to be harmonized.
She explained that upon the revocation of the National Ethics and Value Compliance Agency by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation in 2015, an unidentified group continued to carry out numerous illegalities just to get the office ratified.
According to the former Presidential aide, a group is also planning to organise a summit scheduled for December after the House had held a public hearing, which is unethical.
“I like your organisation to be informed about the seriousness of this criminal interference with an historic bill that emanated from the Presidency to the former office of the ethics and values special adviser.
“The bill proposed went to the presidency and because it needed a legislative attention, a copy also went to the legislature and we were following it up.
“The house committee on Ethics and Privileges should have the good sense of relating it to the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, if there is anything the senate would like to add or subtract so that they can have one voice.
“It is very necessary and urgent to alert the Committees on Ethics and Privileges in the Senate and House of Representatives in other to stop the summit and other unethical activities of these people.
“My prayer is that this obnoxious and criminal part of the bill, Section 76 (c) must be expunged, and the bill must go to the senate to be studied; and this conference cannot not hold before the senate considers this bill.
“There should be a concurrent acceptance agreement between both houses.’’, Jibril said.
Jibril said that in other not to defeat the aim of the bill, which aims at positively changing the attitude of Nigerians, every process of its adoption should follow due process.
She further said that even after passing all the legislative stages to implementation, the office should not be left in the hands of criminal minded persons as that would jeopardize the aim of its establishment.
Meanwhile, Rep. Olusegun Odebunmi (Oyo-PDP), Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Information, Orientation, Ethics and Values, told NAN that the Ethics and Values Bill before the House had been considered.
According to him, a public hearing was held on the bill by the committee and the report considered by the House.
He said that the bill would be sent to the senate for concurrent before being sent to the president for assent after the third reading in the House.
Also, the Secretary General, Civil Society for Ethics and Values Development Initiative, Tajudeen Toyin-Oke, organising the summit in the invitation called for cooperation of all stakeholders in the advancement of ethics and values in the country.
According to him, the proposed summit is in response to the fact that unity is becoming a scarce commodity among our country’s diverse people and communities.