Buhari and Vice set to declare assets

Bowing to public demand for the full disclosure of the contents of their asset declaration forms, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have indicated that they would release the details of their declarations after verification by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), the Presidency has said.

Buhari said the release would be in fulfillment of one of their campaign promises, in which his declared assets and those of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will be released to the public upon the completion of their verification by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

The private declarations of assets by the two leaders has drawn flaks from across sections of Nigerians who demanded full disclosure of the contents of the asset forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau.

Their position was hinged on the principles of zero tolerance for corruption as espoused by Buhari before his election on March 28.

The Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity), Mal. Garba Shehu, who announced this in a statement on behalf of the President, yesterday, said: “The duly completed forms by both the President and the Vice President were submitted to the CCB on March 28, a clear day ahead of their inauguration.”

He said this statement was warranted by the need to clarify some suggestions that the President and the Vice-President may not, after all, declare their assets publicly.

He said: “While such public display of concern is appreciated and valued, it must be said that it is a little precipitate.

“As required by law, the declaration and submission of documents to the CCB have been made, but there still remains the aspect of verification, which the Bureau will have to conduct to authenticate the submissions made to it.

It is hoped that this process will be completed before the expiry of the 100-day deadline within which they said they would do this.

“In the circumstances, it is only after this verification exercise, and not before, that the declaration can be said to have been made and validated; and only after this, will the details be released to the public.

“There is no question at all that the President and the Vice President are committed to public declaration of their assets within the 100 days that they pledged during the presidential campaign.

“The President and the Vice President wish to thank Nigerians for their show of concern, and for the confidence they have shown in their leaders’ integrity, as evidenced by the high pedestal of uprightness and expectations on which they have placed them.”