http://www.saharareporters.com/article/president-yet-declare-his-assets

Asset declaration as the name implies is a statement or document that contains the total worth of an individual in terms of material resources: both liquid cash and properties. The 1999 Constitution, as amended made it compulsory for all Public office holders to declare their assets, before taking oath of office and at the end of their service or end of tenure for elected political office holders. Such records are administered and kept by the Code of Conduct Bureau; the whole essence is to ensure that individuals do not exploit state resources meant for the common good for personal enrichment.

Such documents are not necessarily Public documents, as the Law only mandates that such declaration should be made to the Bureau, for record purposes and could serve as the basis for pursuing a case of financial crimes against such individuals in the future when the need arises.

Not too long ago, the former Chairman of EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and erstwhile Presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the April 2011 polls was accused of not submitting his assets declaration, a charge he denied.

After his election, or rigging into office by one man who did not mince words and never denied saying it, “for me the 2007 election is a do or die affair”, Baba Iyabo. The late Umaru Musa Yar’adua upon assumption of office in May 29th, 2007 shortly made Public his total assets worth, which he had submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau. He detailed to the Nigerian Public his total worth. For a man, who has as at the time just completed two terms as Governor of State in our contemporary Nigerian society, he was an exception to the general, if that was his true worth. The last part of the last sentence becomes necessary, because in the recently concluded Presidential polls, one of the aspirants, who also as at the time was about concluding his second tenure, in the state that pull much allocation from the Federation account, occasion by its having the largest number of Local Government in the country will have us believe that, he has only one account, bank account I mean that he has been using since, he was a school teacher, a Principal of Secondary School, a Director in a state Ministry and a Governor for seven years plus, in Nigeria.


What a wonderful Nigerian, this man claimed that he has no personal house in all this period.

The current multi million naira grandeur palace he lives in, is one that the state under his leadership built and gave him as a “gift” for a job well done. In this Nigeria, I hope somebody is amused. We heard of what Fashola is doing for Lagosians, in just four years, we heard what Danjuma Goje did for the people in Gombe in eight years, we heard what Rotimi Amaechi is doing for Riverians. These are men whose mettle in governance has been acknowledged as noteworthy. Yet none of them will dear look us in the face and tell us the kind of scrap this gentleman will face millions of Nigerian and tell them, when nothing remarkable has been recorded in his tenure, nothing tangible, as a matter of fact as at the time he was going round campaigning that he has revolutionaries education in his State, some of his academic institutions were on strike, yet he had the audacity to face the camera and tell us rubbish. He never won, even in the State he was serving as Governor at the time anyway.

A friend once told me the story that sped up the death of a prominent Yoruba figure, who is been celebrated almost as a deity in the Odua land. He was said to have amassed ill-gotten wealth, but secretly transferred the money to another party to keep as surety, conscious of our human nature for betrayal, they entered into an oath, which binds them, and any betrayal will be visited by death of the betrayer. Several years after, the fellow wanted to claim back his resources, so as to transfer it, to his family members, before his journey, called the surety. The surety who is advance in age, and whose family has enjoyed the grandeur of the ill-gotten wealth, chose to rather die than restore the wealth, he died to ensure that the wealth remain in his family name, exasperated by this seeming betrayal, the sage himself died not too long after. “Seeming” because, both are crooks. I hope our man in question may not suffer such fate, we are watching, history will capture the truth for posterity at the end of the day.

Shortly after the former President, declared his assets publicly to Nigerians, we waited in vain to hear also how much the Vice President at the time, was worth in all his Public career at the time which include about 6-7 years as the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa, and about 1-2 years or thereabout as substantive Governor. Few days after, the opposition could wait no longer, led by the Action Congress spokesman as at the time Lai Muhammed, a serious media campaign was launched. The gentleman in response to the aid of the Vice President at the time said that the Constitution did not make it compulsory that asset declaration by Public office holders should be made Public, but should be kept in the vaults of the Code of Conduct Bureau, a requirement which they claimed the Vice President at the time had made. Our man said “The issue of Public Asset declaration demanded of the Vice President is not about legality and constitutionality, but morality”. Bereft of any more arguments to tender the Nigerian Public, the total asset worth of the Vice President at the time, was pegged at below three hundred millions, in cash and kind, it was made known publicly.

Nigerians criticised the administration of the Late Yar’adua from left, right and centre, as a human being he had his failures, just like all of us, but am sure posterity will speak well about the man.  He has it, on record, that he left behind in the coffers of the state he served for eight years as Governor no debt, and over six billion naira, when some of his contemporaries almost swept clean the coffers and a piling debt, a Governor in the South West recently mortgage the assets of the State before leaving office.

The need for the President to declare his assets has become necessary, because the Nigerian Public needs to know how much their leader has acquired in the last four years. During the few months that the late Yar’adua was comatose, occasion by ailment which eventually claimed his life. The state was run by only God knows who, as the Vice President who was supposed to be constitutionally transferred state control as Acting President was not mandated to do so officially.

The man equally lacks the aura of leadership to command his supposed lieutenants into order; there you had Turai running as de facto President. With Yar’adua running the administration through phones and blackberry, from the King’s Hospital in Saudi Arabia, signing valid national documents, even giving an interview to a foreign media, while in a state of coma, that was really ingenious. Someday, Segun Adeniyi, Kaase Aadookaa SAN and others of this World, will tell us the truth.  There were several rumours about mismanagement of Public fund within that period; nobody has been indicted for any financial wrong.

The House of Representatives wasted tax payers money on Public hearing about the phantom power project of the Obasanjo administration, with no result, no tangible result, only for that House leadership to be enmeshed in a scandal of their own. With one of the said principal beneficiary, defying party decision to emerge as the Speaker, nothing fruitful will come out, perhaps, at the end of the day, the House may apologize to the erstwhile Speaker, for been wrongly detained by the ‘demons’.

The need for the President to publicly declare his assets is imperative, though it hinges not on “Constitutionality and Legality” to borrow the words of Lai Mohammed earlier mentioned but morality, as exemplified by the late Yar’adua. Such willing public asset declaration, by the late President, spoke volume about what he has in mind to do while in office.

The sharing of excess crude fund during the beehive of activities leading to the elections, and the accusation by Atiku Abubakar an aspirant of the PDP along with the current President of monetary inducement of delegates at their party convention. The nationwide campaign of affirmative action of the first lady, which was later converted as the women wing of the Presidential campaign, when the Constitution and the extant provisions of our Laws, clearly does not recognise the so called office of the First Lady, need to be properly investigated.  There is the need also to investigate, the donation by the first lady to all female aspirants in the last election, Nigerians need to know how she came about such fortunes.

I voted for Goodluck at the last polls, not necessarily because am optimistic that he possesses the best skills to turn around the fortunes of the country overnight. The problem of corruption in this country is hydra headed; it is not something that can be fixed overnight. The nearest solution to the Nigerian corruption menace which transcends all sectors of the economy is revolution, for which am not an advocate. Revolution only provides temporary palliatives measure to stemming corruption and mismanagement.  Jerry Rawlings of Ghana carried out a revolution, he was able to control the country for some time, though I have never been to Ghana, I’m doubtful, if corruption is not growing there, it may not be as bad as it is here, due to the pangs of that revolution, but it’s there I’m sure all the same.

You may be interested to hear my opinion about the way forward on the war against corruption. It is important to start by understanding what corruption is. We need to situate that concept clearly. Some people think that stealing or looting of Public funds is corruption, some think that collection of twenty naira on the roads by police men from commercial drivers is corruption, some think that lecturers failing female students in an examination for sex is corruption, others think that dressing by female in a seductive manner is corruption, some feel that charges on many items by Proprietors of private schools is corruption, even cheating in an examination is corruption. The literature on the list of things that can be termed corruption is endless. Corruption is impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle: depravity b: decay decomposition c: inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means (as bribery) d: a departure from the original or from what is pure or correct. You can see that Merram Websters Dictionary has four definitions for the word.
In the future we may attempts to treat the issue of Corruption and its hydra headed nature as it’s relates to Nigeria, and the possible solution. For now though, the issue is the need for Public Assets declaration by the President.

-    The declaration will tell us that the President has no intention of mismanaging the nation’s resources.

-    The declaration will remind the president that he has told Nigerians his assets worth, and Nigerians will be judging his final assets  against his declarations at the end of his tenure

-    The declaration will necessitate the Vice President to follow suit, thus restricting the Vice President, desire if there be any to mismanage or loot the treasury

-    The declaration will give room for Nigerians to press for a band wagon effects on Ministers, Senators, Honourable Members,  , Governors, Chairmen to Publicly declare their assets

-    The Public declaration will restrict the Presidents and all sundry political office holders. To secretly go back and doctor their assets declaration before the end of their tenure in the vaults of the Code of Conduct Bureau

-    The declaration will preclude any false declaration of assets, with the intention of acquiring same during the course of the tenure of the political office holders, as members of the public will investigate every seeming false asset declared

-    The Public declaration will also help in ensuring that the Code of Conduct Bureau carries out its mandate according to the provisions of the Law, as any manipulations in the assets records already declared in their vaults, may be a precursor for invitation of the duo of EFCC and ICPC or one of them to investigate and prosecute the Bureau.

-    Such public declaration which thrives on morality can only beget its kind, morality and more morality in the discharge of all statutory responsibility

-    Such declaration will be a wakeup call on Nigerians to watch out for assets acquired through mismanagement of Public funds, as they already know the assets worth of all Public office holders

-    Such public declaration and the scrutiny that will follow, will provide opportunity for only people who genuinely want to serve to aspire to be in any Public office, as the satellites will be beaming squarely more on such persons as opposed to business men and women
The time for such declaration is now, not tomorrow, we need to hear it now. We are optimistic, that the President will do what posterity will judge fairly. The President may not have a strong overbearing personality like Baba Iyabo. He may not have the credulity of the former Yar’adua, but no one can deny that he has the mantra of good luck.

Many voted him because of that Goodluck he has, which thrives on the bad luck of others though. I voted because having analysed all the other candidates on parade, and having a fair understanding of the hydra headed nature of corruption in Nigeria. As one under no illusion of a magical solution as some saw in the “Peoples General”, I voted GEJ as the bridge that may help us along the path from corruption to some level of sanity. The last polls attest to some modest achievements in that direction.

The Public assets declaration by the President and the band wagon effects, we are sure going to press for it, from all political office holders will continue our journey, on the bridge mentioned earlier.

Failure on the part of Mr President to publicly declare his assets and the recourse to any form of argument, reminiscent of his style of back-pedalling as earlier mentioned, will be a clear signal as to the kind of leadership, our choice for this Goodluck will bring. Already our opponents who thought we made a big mistake are taunting us and smiling, on our part we have not lost hope, and are not regretting, not yet.

Having risen to the highest pinnacle of Leadership in our land, through the undeniable mantra of good luck which undeniably thrives on the misfortunes or bad luck of other’s. With no more higher position for grabs in Nigeria, may the good luck that has brought him thus far bear good luck. May Nigerians not become another misfortune or bad luck that will herald Goodluck to God knows where.  We are waiting.

Does EFCC have any power to go after presidency? Anyway, there is a difference between power and gut.

Fresh Air 2011!

He, and ALL of those elected this last april, were REQUIRED to declare their assets before, not even after, inauguration.

Fresh AIR!!!!!!!!!!!!

But Gej declared his assets before he was sworn in. Another stupid writer seeking for attention. Please, if you want to know the present worth of Gej, kindly apply to the relevant authorities

I've been following the trends here on nairaland and the only conclusion I've reached here is that majority of nairalanders are pure hypocrites and ethnic bigots. Please note that your beloved and holy Fashola equally declared his assets in private and nobody complained or raised an eye brow. Don't you guys think that what 'what is good for the goose is also good for the gander'. I rest my case

I am not sure there is anything tribal about the report. If it is true, I guess there is something more to do with respect to war on corruption. If we don't know how much you are worth now, it will be difficult to estimate how much you looted.