Public Property Commission Law

PUBLIC PROPERTY COMMISSION LAW

1. Citation. This Law may be cited as the Public Property Commission Law.

2. Interpretation. In this Law, unless the context otherwise requires- "Commission" means the Public Property Commission established under section 3 of this Law; "companies in which Government has controlling shares" includes companies in which the Government has the largest portion of the hundred percent shares in the company relative to other shareholders; "member" means any person appointed as such pursuant to section 4 of this Law, and reference to member or members includes, where appropriate, reference to the Chairman; "function" includes powers and duties; "Government" includes ministries, departments of Government, local governments, statutory boards and corporations and companies in which the State Government has controlling shares; "Governor" means the Governor of the State; "oath" includes solemn affirmation and statutory declaration; "property" includes real property, interest in land such as leases, mortgages and charges and other property such as machinery, money, other negotiable instruments and shares in companies; "State" means Delta State of Nigeria.

3. Establishment of Public Property Commission. There shall be established for the State a body to be known as the Delta State Public Property Commission (hereinafter called "the Commission").

4. Appointment of members of the Commission. (1) The Commission shall consist of- (a) a part-time Chairman who shall be selected from amongst the serving or retired Judges of the High Court; and (b) three other members on a part-time basis who shall be persons of proven integrity and shall possess such other qualifications as the Governor may determine. (2) The Chairman and the other members shall be appointed by the Governor. (3) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, a member shall hold office for a term of three years in the first instance and shall be eligible for re-appointment for a second term of three years and shall vacate office at the expiration of a period of six years. (4) A member may at any time be removed from office by the Governor. (5) The remuneration and allowances of the Chairman and the other members shall be as determined by the Governor.

5. Oath of members. (1) Every member appointed under this Law shall make and subscribe to such oaths as the Governor may prescribe. (2) Such oaths shall be taken before the Governor or before such other person as the Governor may appoint.

6. Appointment and tenure of office of other staff. (1) There shall be appointed for the Commission a Secretary who shall be the chief executive officer Of the Commission and shall be responsible for the day-to-day running of the Commission. (2) There shall be deployed to the Commission by the Secretary to the Government and Head of Service such additional officers and servants as may be deemed appropriate to assist the Commission in the discharge of its functions under this Law. (3) The remuneration and tenure of office of the other officers and servants of the Commission shall be similar to those of their counterparts in the State Civil Service.

7. Function of the Commission. The Commission shall either on its own motion or pursuant to memoranda submitted to it by any person, or by the Government, inquire, probe and research into, or investigate and examine any matter connected with the operation, control and management of the property of the State Government or any matter relating thereto and submit its findings and recommendations thereon to the Governor in accordance with section 19 of this Law.

8. Chairman to make rules and to retain his high court judge powers. (1) The Chairman may make such rules with respect to the conduct of the proceedings, and the time and place of meetings of the Commission as he may think fit. (2) The Chairman shall, while sitting on the Commission, retain all his powers as a High Court Judge. (3) If the members shall in any case be equally divided on any question that arises during the proceedings of the Commission, the Chairman shall have a second or casting vote.

9. Powers of the Commission. The Commission shall have the following powers- (a) to procure all such evidence, written or oral and to examine all such persons as witnesses as the Commission may think necessary or desirable to procure or examine; (b) to require the evidence (whether written or oral) of any witness to be made on oath or declaration, such oath or declaration to be that which would be required of the witness if he were giving evidence in a Court of law; (c) to summon any person in Nigeria to attend any meeting of the Commission to give evidence or produce any document or other thing in his possession and to examine him as a witness or require him to produce any document or other thing in his possession subject to all just exceptions; (d) to issue a warrant to compel the attendance of any person who after having been summoned to attend, fails to do so and does not excuse such failure to the satisfaction of the Commission, and to order him to pay all costs which may have been occasioned in compelling his attendance or by reason of his refusal to obey the summons; (e) to remand any person in prison custody for such period as the Commission may consider reasonable for failure to comply with any order of the Commission or to prevent any such person from tampering with material evidence or from absconding; (f) to admit any evidence whether written or oral which might otherwise be inadmissible in criminal or civil proceedings; (g) to admit or exclude the public or any member thereof from any meetings of the Commission; (h) to admit or exclude the press from any meeting of the Commission; (i) to award any person who has attended any meeting of the Commission, including any interpreter appointed by the Commission, such sum or sums of money as in the opinion of the Commission may have been reasonably expended by him by reason of such attendance; (j) to enter upon any land for the purpose of obtaining evidence or information required by or which may be required by or which may be of assistance to the Commission.

10. Forms of summons and warrant of arrest. (1) Summons to witnesses may be as in Form A in the Schedule to this Law and shall be served by the Police, or by such person as the Commission may direct. (2) A warrant to arrest a person who has failed to obey a summons to attend as a witness may be as in Form B in the Schedule to this Law and may be executed by any member of the police force.

11. Interpreters. (1) The Commission shall have power to appoint any person, whether in the Government Service or not, to act as interpreter in any matter brought before them and to translate any books, papers or writings produced to them. (2) Any interpreter appointed under this section shall take and subscribe the following oath, or as the case may be, make and subscribe before the members the following affirmation or declaration- "I ................................................................. do swear (or solemnly affirm or declare) that I will faithfully perform the duties of interpreter and will truly translate or explain all documents entrusted to me for such purpose to the best of my ability, and that I will not except as authorised by the members, directly or indirectly reveal the contents of such documents as may be entrusted to me, nor the evidence given by witnesses which may have been interpreted by me."

12. Use of evidence taken under this law in judicial proceedings. No evidence taken under this Law shall be admissible against any person in any civil or criminal proceedings whatsoever except in the case of a person charged under section 13 of this Law for giving false evidence before the Commission.

13. Protection of witnesses. Any person who threatens, assaults or injures any person for having given evidence, or on account of the evidence which he has given before the Commission shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon summary conviction to imprisonment for two years.

14. False evidence and false interpretation. (1) Any person who shall give false evidence before the Commission upon oath or declaration as provided for in section 8 (b) of this Law, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon summary conviction to imprisonment for two years. (2) Any person who, being appointed by the Commission to act as interpreter in any matter brought before them to translate any documents produced to them, and having taken the oath or made the affirmation or declaration prescribed in section 9 of this Law, wilfully gives a false interpretation of any document or makes an untrue translation of any such document, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon summary conviction to imprisonment for two years.

15. Penalty for failing to give evidence. Any person who being summoned to attend as a witness or to produce a book, document or any other thing refuses or neglects to do so or to answer any question put to him by or with the concurrence of the members shall be liable upon summary conviction to a fine of five hundred naira or to imprisonment for six months or both: Provided that no person shall be bound to incriminate himself and every witness shall, in respect of any evidence written by him for, or given by him before the Commission, be entitled to the same privileges to which he would have been entitled if, he were giving evidence before a court of justice.

16. Appearance of legal practitioners. Any person whose conduct is the subject of inquiry before the Commission or who is in any way implicated or concerned in the matter under inquiry shall be entitled to be represented by a legal practitioner at the whole of the inquiry, and any other person who may consider it desirable that he should be so represented may by leave of the Commission be represented in the manner aforesaid.

17. Definition of contempt. The following shall be deemed to be an act of contempt within the meaning of this Law- (a) any act of disrespect and any insult or threat offered to the members or any of them while sitting in Commission; (b) any act of disrespect and any insult or threat offered to a member at any other time and place on account of the role played by him in any proceedings in his capacity as a member.

18. Proceedings in respect of contempt generally. Any person who commits an act of contempt, whether the act is or is not committed in the presence of the members sitting on the Commission, shall be liable on summary conviction before a court of competent jurisdiction to a fine of five thousand naira or to imprisonment for two years or both.

19. Remuneration of witnesses, interpreters, etc. (1) Witnesses and other persons, other than the interpreters, attending at the request of or upon summons by the Commission shall, subject to any order made by the Commission, be entitled to like expenses as if summoned to attend the High Court in a criminal trial. (2) Interpreters shall receive such remuneration as is payable to interpreters in the proceedings in the High Court. (3) The payment to witnesses, interpreters and other persons shall be made out of the public revenue.

20. Submission of the report of the Commission. The Commission shall from time to time make and furnish to the Governor a full report in writing of their proceedings, and shall record an opinion and reasons leading to their conclusions. Any member dissenting from the conclusions, or any part thereof shall record the reason of such dissent in the report.

21. Protection of Commission and members. (1) Any person who attacks, threatens, obstructs or hinders the Commission, or the Chairman, or any member, or otherwise does anything prejudicial to the effective performance of the functions of the Commission shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years. (2) No action shall lie in any court of law against the Commission or any member thereof on account of anything done or caused to be done in good faith by such Commission or member in the course of carrying out its or his functions under this Law, and no question as to the validity of the appointment of a member or as to the competence of the Commission shall be entertained in any court of law. (3) The provisions of the Public Property Protection Law shall apply to members and staff of the Commission. PUBLIC PROPERTY COMMISSION LAW FORM A Law No ............................................................................................................ of................................ SUMMONS TO WITNESS UNDER SECTION 9 OF THE PROPERTY COMMISSION LAW To A. B (name of person summoned, and his calling and residence if known). You are hereby summoned to appear before the Property Commission on .................................. the .................................. day of ............................................. 20..................... at.................. o' clock and to give evidence respecting such inquiry (if the person summoned is to produce any documents add) and you are required to bring with you (specify the books, documents or other things required). Therefore fail not at your peril. GIVEN under my hand this............................................ day of.............................,

20................... ........................... Chairman FORM B WARRANT OF ARREST Law No............................................................................................................... of ............................... To ............................................................................................. and any member of the Police Force. WHEREAS a summons under section 9 of the Property Commission Law has been served upon one (name of witness) ........................................................................ of ................................................. (address) to attend and give evidence before the Property Commission on the ...................................................... day of ........................,20 ................... AND WHEREAS the said ......................................................................... (named of witness) has neglected to be or appear at the time and place as aforesaid and it has been proven to me upon oath that the said summons has been duly served upon the said ......................................................... (name of witness) .................................................. and he/she has not excused such failure to my satisfaction (or that of one of the other members). Now you are hereby commanded to arrest the said ................................................................. and bring him/her before me at ..................................... without delay. GIVEN under my hand at ........................ this............. day of..............................,

20................... ......................... Chairman