Buhari, Osinbajo fail first public test

Nigerians have continued to react to the failure of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to publicly declare their assets.

It would be recalled that the two declared their assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau on May 28 as required by the Constitution but failed to make the contents public.

The head of Buhari’s media team, Garba Shehu, in a statement on Saturday, said the President and the Vice President submitted their assets declaration forms separately on Thursday.

Shehu added that the CCB, through its Chairman, Sam Saba, on Friday acknowledged the receipt of the forms.

He gave Buhari’s declaration identity number as “President: 000001/2015.”

Shehu, however, did not disclose the contents of the assets declaration forms.

“By declaring their assets, President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo may have not only fulfilled the requirements of the Nigerian Constitution, but also fulfilled the first of their many campaign promises.

“While seeking election into the highest office in the land, the President had promised Nigerians that he would publicly declare his assets as soon as he took over government,” he wrote.

The Nigerian Constitution states in Chapter VI Section 140 that a person elected to the Office of the President shall not begin to perform the functions of that office until he has declared his assets and liabilities as prescribed in the Constitution.

In its reaction, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), called on Buhari and Osinbajo to “swiftly move to declare their assets publicly.

SERAP said this was consistent with their apparent anticorruption credentials and their expressed commitments to do so and in the best interest of transparency and accountability.”

SERAP’s request followed the declaration of assets last week by the President and Vice President to the Code of Conduct Bureau as required by the Constitution.

In a statement yesterday by SERAP executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni, the organisation said, “We welcome the official declaration of assets by the President and Vice President. This clearly complies with the requirements of the Nigerian Constitution as contained in Chapter VI Section 140. However, the declaration before the Code of Conduct alone falls far short of the commitment to publicly declare their assets.

“SERAP recalls that the President had said before the election that he would publicly declare his assets and liabilities, and encourage all his appointees to publicly declare their assets and liabilities as a pre-condition for appointment. We now expect the President to fulfil this promise to the Nigerian people.

“We trusts that the President and Vice President will move swiftly to publicly declare their assets and to publish widely the information on a dedicated website.”

“Public disclosure of assets will give the general public a true picture of the assets of the President and Vice President and will send a powerful message that it is not going to be business as usual with this government. This will also follow the best practice by former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, boost this government’s fight against corruption and impunity of perpetrators, and fully comply with the provisions of chapter two of the dealing with Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, which among others require the government to take steps to eradicate corrupt practices and the abuse of power”.

The group also said, “We believe that public disclosure of assets is crucial for ensuring that public officials’ personal interests including that of the President and Vice President as the leaders of the nation, do not conflict with their duties and responsibilities. Public disclosure also helps to provide a baseline and thus means for comparison to identify assets that may have been corruptly acquired and that a public official may legitimately be asked to account for.

“We also urge the President to urgently take measures to seek amendment of the law relating to declaration of assets to include the requirement of public disclosure so as to bring it in line with international standards and best practices such as the UN Convention against Corruption,” the organisation added.

A Lagos lawyer, Mr. Olumide Jegede, also faulted the president and his vice for reneging on their promises to publicly declare their assets.

“Buhari claimed earlier that he was poor, he said he even borrowed money from bank to buy presidential form and he claimed he will declare his assets and also force all his ministers to declare their assets if he is voted into power. Now he is singing another song.

“This is the second promise he will break, the first being the no first lady scam. He promised to declare his assets publicly, but he went behind Nigerians to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).