The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) is preparing to launch a digital asset and liability declaration system aimed at improving transparency, reducing bureaucratic delays, and reinforcing anti-corruption measures in Nigeria’s public service, the agency’s Chairman, Abdullahi Bello, has stated.

Speaking at a validation workshop in Abuja on Tuesday, Bello said the initiative seeks to replace the long-standing paper-based system, which he described as “seldom analysed or used as tools against illicit enrichment.”

He added, “The old story must end. For too long, asset declaration has been seen as a bureaucratic ritual—forms hurriedly filled and forgotten, rarely analysed and rarely used as the powerful anti-corruption tool it was meant to be. This ends with the new ALDS.”

Bello said the platform would link multiple national databases, including those of the Corporate Affairs Commission, land registries, and financial institutions, enabling real-time verification of public officers’ assets.

The system, he added, will automatically detect undeclared companies, properties, and income streams, reducing reliance on manual reporting.

“By integrating with available databases, we will be able to discover assets in real time. You won’t need to tell us every property or company you own. The system will show it,” he said.

The chairman explained that the Bureau intends to introduce a graded service fee for political office holders and senior public servants to ensure the system’s sustainability, while junior staff or those unable to pay would receive waivers.

“We want an honest fee that is graded, with waivers for low-level public servants. We want to free ourselves from the burden of budget dependency,” he said.

Bello noted that the reform builds on the work of the CCB’s Forensic Accounting Unit, which currently analyses asset declarations submitted by former public officers.

He said the digital system would strengthen the Bureau’s capacity to monitor and enforce compliance with the country’s anti-corruption framework.

Senator Neda Imasuen, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions, commended the Bureau’s progress, highlighting the introduction of a sustainable funding model.

Imasuen said the agency had struggled for years to fund basic administrative processes, such as printing paper declaration forms.

“I have always wondered why CCB wakes up in the morning and looks for funds all over the place to print forms so you and I can fill them out for free.

It’s time we depart from this. We can pay a nominal amount for the form you’re coming to fill so the Bureau does not keep begging for funds to do what it ought to be doing,” he said.

The CCB has historically relied on a paper-based asset declaration system that has been criticised for inefficiency, vulnerability to abuse, and limited data analysis. Bello confirmed that the digital platform would become fully operational after validation, review, and harmonisation with stakeholders.

The initiative, Bello said, represents a step forward in Nigeria’s efforts to strengthen accountability in public office.

“Will Nigeria finally have a world-class, corruption-resistant asset declaration system that serves both public servants and the Nigerian people? My answer, and I believe yours, is a resounding YES,” he stated.