The Code of Conduct for public officer prohibits conflict of interest and prevents a public officer from involvement in day to day management and running of a business.
Can it be said that the Hon. Minister of interior is involved in the day to day running of the business entity in question? The answer is no. By law, shareholders are not involved in the day to day running of a company. That is the duty of directors. They are the ones who call for meetings, take business decisions, sign cheques, bid for businesses, engage stakeholders amongst other responsibilities. Hon. Minister of Interior, going by available record, resigned his directorship in 2019 from the company in question.
A situation of conflict of interest can only arise where a public officer is put in a position of dilemma concerning an official decision to take. More like a situation where you have to weigh two conflicting options which taken either way, will accord you a favour or a gain or gratification of any sort.
Conflict of interest can only arise where a public officer is directly involved in a decision where he is afforded a direct benefit as a result of his official decision.
The Consultancy Contract in question was not awarded by the Ministry of Interior, and in fact, Hon. Bunmi Tunji Ojo was not part of the tender or bid process or the award of contract in Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs. So conflict of interest does not arise.
Prof Barth Nnaji had interest in a power/transmission company and still presided over the procurement process involving his company and others as a Minister. That’s a clear case of conflict of interest. And, what we have with the Interior Minister case is completely not the same.
In totality, principles of law are not applied out of context. The individual facts of each scenario must be considered. The Code of Conduct for Public Officers does not discourage an entity from bidding for government contracts because a public officer owns shares in the company. That is not the intendment.
Akinlabi O writes from Abuja.