President Goodluck Jonathan and his vice,
Namadi Sambo, were directed by the Code
of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to declare their
assets.
Moreover, 29 governors, 42 ministers, 109
senators and 360 House or Representatives
members were ordered to do the same, The
Punch has obtained.
The officials were said to have been given a
30-day deadline to return the completed
Assets Declaration Forms.
Kolade Omoyola, CCB acting secretary, last
Tuesday noted that “political office holders
to declare their assets on assumption and
vacation of office in accordance with
Paragraph II of the 5th Schedule of the
1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria as amended”.
The Bureau representative also issued a
warning that those who fail to declare their
assets, as required by the law, “shall attract
on conviction any or all of the following:
(a) Removal from office (b) Disqualification
from holding any public office, (c)
Forfeiture to the state any property
acquired in abuse of office or dishonesty”.
It was gathered that only seven senators
and 40 reps had submitted their forms so
far.
Tony Okocha, Rivers state official, said that
Governor Rotimi Amaechi would soon
submit the completed form: “The Governor
Rotimi Amaechi that I know will submit his
form to the Bureau very soon.
He has no skeleton in his cupboard and
has nothing to hide anywhere in Nigeria
and anywhere in the world.”
Jacob Edi, the special adviser to Kogi state
Governor Idris Wada, said that the
governor, and all the other political
appointees in the state subject to the law
had submitted the forms.
Edo state governor Godswill Akpabio had
submitted the form before he was sworn
in, his aide provided.
A representative of Oyo state governor said
that Abiola Ajimobi “certainly will” declare
his assets.
It should be recalled that late Musa
Yar’Adua is the only Nigerian president
who has declared his assets.
Muhammadu Buhari, the president-elect,
also vowed to to openly declare assets and
liabilities after taking over office .
Meanwhile President Jonathan last year
refused to make such a move. GEJ
explained he had already done this while
being deputy to Yar’Adua.
He claimed in the course of the third
presidential media chat:
“The issue of public assets declaration is a
matter of personal principle. That is the
way I see it, and I don’t give a damn about
it, even if you criticise me from heaven.
When I was the vice-president, that matter
came up, and I told the former President
(late Musa Yar’Adua) that let’s not start
something that would make us play into
the hands of people and create an
anomalous situation in the country.
“The law is clear. A public officer should
declare his assets, and if there are issues,
then the relevant agencies would have a
basis to assess whether you have amassed
wealth or not. When it is said that people
should declare their assets in public, it is
not only the president or the vice-
president; it includes everybody, including
ministers.
“When I was a governor in Bayelsa State
for about a year before becoming vice-
president, I was investigated thoroughly. I
have nothing to hide.
But because I was under somebody and it
was becoming an issue, because of the
media, and because my boss had declared,
it was said that the vice-president must. I
declared, not because I
wanted to.
“Initially, I said they can talk about it from
morning to night, I will not. It is not
proper.
If one amends the law to say that only the
president and the vice- president should
declare assets publicly, fine.
But, presently, everybody who is holding
political office is expected to and I say it is
not right.”
In another development General
Theophilus Danjuma (retd.), the former
defence minister, yesterday advised
Muhammadu Buhari to probe President
Jonathan’s administration over the $60
billion debt the new administration will
inherit.
According to Daily Trust, Danjuma
lamented: “It is disheartening to know that
the incoming government of Buhari will
have to contend with a debt of over
$60billion and there is nothing to show for
this huge debt.
“Well, we would know what happened to
these monies, because I believe that the
Buhari administration has to, and should,
in national interest, investigate the
administration so that we
would know what happened.
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