1. Establishment of Code of Conduct Tribunal

(1)There is hereby established a tribunal to be known as the Code of Conduct Tribunal (in this Act referred to as “the Tribunal”).

(2)The tribunal shall consist of a chairman and two other members.

(3)The chairman shall be a person who has held or is qualified to hold office as a judge of a superior court of record in Nigeria and shall receive such remuneration as may be prescribed by law.

(4)The chairman and other members of the tribunal shall be appointed by the President on the Seventy years, be entitled to pension for life at a rate equivalent to his last annual salary in addition to other retirement benefits to which he may be entitled.

(3) A person holding the office of chairman or member of the Tribunal shall not be removed from his office or appointment by the President except upon an address supported by two-thirds majority of each House of the National Assembly praying that he be so removed for inability to discharge the functions of the office in question (whether arising from infirmity of mind or body) or for misconduct or for contravention of this Act.

(4) A person holding the office of chairman or member of the Tribunal shall not be removed from office before retiring age, save in accordance with the provisions of this section.

2. POWERS OF THE TRIBUNAL TO IMPOSE PUNISHMENT
(1) Where the Tribunal finds a public officer guilty of contravening any of the of the provisions of this a Act, It shall impose upon that officer any of the punishments specified under subsection (2) of this section.

(2) The punishment which the Tribunal may impose
Shall include any of the following-

(a) Vacation of office or any elective or nominated
Office, as the case may be;
(b) Disqualification from holding any public office (whether elective or not) for a period not exceeding ten years; and

(c) Seizure and forfeiture to the State of any property acquired in abuse or corruption of office.

(3) The punishments mentioned in subsection (2) of this section shall be without prejudice to the penalties that may be imposed by any law where the breach of conduct is also a criminal offence under the Criminal Code or any other enactment or law.

(4) Where the Tribunal gives a decision as to whether or not a person is guilty of a contravention of any of the provisions of this Act, an appeal shall lie as of right from such decision or from any punishment imposed on such person to the Court of Appeal at the instance of any party to the proceedings.

(5) Any right of appeal to the Court of Appeal from the decision of the Tribunal conferred by subsection (4) of this section shall be exercised in accordance with the provisions of the rules of court for the time being in force regulating the powers, practice and procedure of the Court of Appeal.

(6) Nothing in this section shall prejudice the prosecution of a public officer punished under this section, or preclude such offer (Cap. 23) from being prosecuted or punished for an offence in a court of law.

(7) The provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, relating to prerogative of mercy, shall not apply to any punishment imposed in accordance with: the provisions of this section.

3. RULES OF PROCEDURE AND INSTITUTION OF PROCEEDING
(1) The rules of procedure to be adopted in any prosecution for the offences under this Act before the Tribunal, and the forms to be used in such prosecutions shall be, as set out in the Third Schedule to this Act.

[Third Schedule]

(2) Prosecutions for all offences referred to in this Act shall be instituted in the name of the Federal Republic Nigeria by the Attorney-General of the Federation or such officers in the Federal Ministry of Justice as the Attorney-General of the Federation may authorized so to do,

(3) For the purpose of this section, the Attorney-General of the Federation may - after consultation with the Attorney General of any State in the Federation_, authorize any officer of the Ministry of Justice or the State concerned to undertake any such prosecutions directly or assist therein; or

If the Tribunal so requests, or if contingencies so dictate authorize any other legal practitioner in Nigeria to undertake any such prosecution or
assist therein:
.
Provided that the question whether any authority has been given in pursuance of this subsection shall not be inquired into by any person.

(4) Any person accused of any offence referred to in this Act shall he entitled to defend himself in person or by a person of his own choice, who is a legal practitioner resident in Nigeria,

25.POWER OF ISSUE SEARCH WARRANT
Notwithstanding the provisions of any other enactment conferring power to search, if the chairman of the Tribunal is satisfied that there is a reasonable ground to suspect that there may be found in any building or other place whatsoever, any books, records, statements or information in any form whatsoever, which, in his opinion, are or may be material to the charge or any trial under this Act, he may issue a warrant under his hand authorizing any police officer or any member of the security agencies to enter, if necessary by force, the said building or other place and every part thereof, and to search for, seize and remove any such material as aforesaid, found therein,

26.INTERPRETATION
"The Bureau means the Code of Conduct Bureau established by the Constitution and under section I of this Act;

[Cap. C23]

"Business" means any profession, vocation, trade or any adventure or concern in the nature of trade, and excludes farming;

"Child" includes a step-child, a lawfully adopted child, a child born out of wedlock and any child to whom any individual stands in place of a parent;

"Emolument" means any salary, wage, overtime or leave pay, commission, fee, bonus, gratuity, benefit, advantage (whether or not the allowance, pension or annuity is paid, given or granted in respect of any
Employment or office);

"Functions" includes powers and duties;

"Foreign companies" or "foreign enterprises" means companies or enterprises in which the controlling shares are owned by persons other than the Government, its agencies or citizens of Nigeria;

"Members" includes the members or the Bureau or the Tribunal as the case may be;

"Public officer" means a person holding any of the office specified in the Second Schedule to this Act;

"The Tribunal" means the Tribunal established by and under section 20 of this Act.