A Federal High Court, Abuja has fixed Thursday for hearing of a suit seeking the release of documents relating to assets declared by President Goodluck Jonathan and some other government officials.
The suit, filed by a non-governmental organisation, Legal Defence Assistance Project, has the Code of Conduct Bureau as the defendant.
LEDAP, also through the suit, is seeking information relating to assets declared by Vice-President, Namadi Sambo, governors, and ministers.
The organisation had filed the suit in July 2012 after the CBB denied its request for the documents.
CBB had declined to release the information on the grounds that the asset declaration forms sought by LEDAP contained personal information of the affected officials and their relatives.
The Bureau, in declining LEDAP's request, cited sections 13(1)(v) and 15(1)(ii) of the Freedom of Information Act, which it claimed, exempted such information from being released to the public.
The letter by CBB's Legal Adviser, Simon Egede stated, "Furthermore, even though paragraph 3(c) of the Third Scheule, Part 1 to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, provides that the Code of Conduct Bureau shall make the assets declaration available for inspection by any citizen of Nigeria, the terms and conditions under which that can be done have not been prescribed by the National Assembly as enjoined by the provision."
