Why I won't declare my assets publicly - President Jonathan



The president says the public declaration of assets is not right and that he won't do so no matter the criticism

President Goodluck Jonathan has condemned the mounting calls on public office holders to publicly declare their assets while in office, saying such clamour by Nigerians is not right, as officials should be allowed to determine whether making their assets public agree with their principles.

He made it clear his own principle disagree vehemently with allowing the people he governs know how much he is worth and what he really owns.

Fielding questions on Sunday during his third Presidential media chat at the Aso Villa Abuja, Mr. Jonathan said when the matter camme up during his time as Vice President to late President Musa Yar’adua he made it very clear that it was not a right decision to take.

Asked why he has refused to publicly declare his assets as an example for members of his cabinet, the President said, “The issue of public asset 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) 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, incluidng 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."

Mr. Jonathan continued, “Initially I said they can talk about it from morning to night, I will not. I said it is a matter of principle. It is not proper. If one amends the law to say that only the President and the Vice should declare assets publicly, fine. But, presently everybody who is holding political office is expected to do, and I say it is not right. Those who made the law knew why they put the law that way. I could be investigated when I leave office.

“You don’t need to declare assets publicly, otherwise you are playing to the gallery.You don’t need to publicly declare assets. That’s a matter of principle. If I have to declare publicly, it means every polictical office holder will have to declare publicly. And it is not the right thing to do. That is my believe.

“It is not the President’s declaration of assets that would change the economy. There are challenges secuirty, power and revolutionising agriculture. These are areas we should be interested in . Whether Mr. Jonathan publicly declares his asstes or not is not the issue.

On the controversial trip to Brazil for the Conference on Sustainable development, the President said he had no regret for attending the summit in spite of the instability in the country.

He said he could not afford to boycott the summit because of the country's internal challenges, as doing do would have sent wrong signals to the international community.

He explained, “I have no regrets travelling to Brazil for the Rio Conference lat week. The issue of Boko Haram is very pathetic. I sympathise with people who have lost relations and property. People feel unsafe, and I feel the pain. As the president, if one person dies, I feel so sad.

“A lot of Nigerians who were worried that I traveled to Brazil did so out of ignorance. One of the tactics of terrorists is to strangle governemnt . If they hear that the President, Vice President or Ministers could not travel because of their activities, they would celebrate.

“The government of Nigeria must not stop for a second because of terror. Let the relevant security agencies ocntinue to do their work and allow governemnt to continue to function. The day government stops functioning, it communicates very serious negative signals to the international community. If governemnt stops to function, we would have played into the hands of the terrorists.

Boko Haram and their sponsors cannot and will never stop the governemnt from moving. All the arms of governemnt will continue to keep faith with their national and international engagements . They cannot bring us to our knees. We must continue to fight to bring Boko Haram to an end.”




Source: http://premiumtimesng.com/news/5741-i_wont_declare_my_assets.html

Found it . . . Thanks to Representative Abike Dabiri-Erewa . . . .(not sure if she is still a Rep)

[size=13pt]1. The Code of Conduct Bureau[/size] shall comprise the following members:
(a) a Chairman; and

(b) nine other members, each of whom, at the time of appointment, shall not be less than fifty years of age and subject to the provisions of section 157 of this Constitution shall vacate his office on attaining the age of seventy years.

2. The Bureau shall establish such offices in each state of the Federation as it may require for the discharge of its functions under this Constitution.

[size=14pt]3. The Bureau shall have power to:

(a) receive declarations by public officers made under paragraph 12 of Part I of the Fifth Schedule to this Constitution;

(b) examine the declarations in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Conduct or any law;

(c) retain custody of such declarations and make them available for inspection by any citizen of Nigeria on such terms and conditions as the National Assembly may prescribe;
[/size]
(d) ensure compliance with and, where appropriate, enforce the provisions of the Code of Conduct of any law relating thereto;

(e) receive complaints about non-compliance with or breach of the provisions of the Code of Conduct or any law in relation thereto, investigate the complaint and, where appropriate, refer such matters to the Code of Conduct Tribunal;

(f) appoint, promote, dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over the staff of the Codes of Conduct Bureau in accordance with the provisions of an Act of the National Assembly enacted in that behalf; and

(g) carry out such other functions as may be conferred upon it by the National Assembly.

The terms and conditions of service of the staff of the Code of Conduct Bureau shall be the same as those provided for public officers in the civil service of the Federation.

So, for those who do not know. This information is supposed to be available to Nigerians. The current terms and conditions prescribed are in the FOI, since no exceptions are provided in there for this declaration, the information can be accessed by, you guessed it, any Nigerian.

superior1: That asset question vex am o

Here is the problem though. Below is what the Constitution says must happen before the president can even be sworn in.

[size=13pt]140. (1) A person elected to the office of President shall not begin to perform the functions of that office until he has declared his assets and liabilities as prescribed in this Constitution and he has taken and subscribed the Oath of Allegiance and the oath of office prescribed in the Seventh Schedule to this Constitution.

(2) The oaths aforesaid shall be administered by the Chief Justice of Nigeria or the person for the time being appointed to exercise the functions of that office.[/size]

Here is what the same constitution says of the senate, and it also contains similar for the Governors and their deputies.

[size=13pt]52. (1) Every member of the Senate or the House of Representatives shall, before taking his seat, declare his assets and liabilities as prescribed in this Constitution and subsequently take and subscribe the Oath of Allegiance and the oath of membership as prescribed in the Seventh Schedule to this Constitution before the President of the Senate or, as the case may be, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, but a member may before taking the oaths take part in the election of a President and a Deputy President of the Senate, as the case may be, or a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(2) The President and Deputy President of the Senate and the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representative s shall declare their assets and liabilities as prescribed in this Constitution and subsequently take and subscribe the Oath of Allegiance and the oath of membership prescribed as aforesaid before the Clerk of the National Assembly.[/size]

http://www.nigeria-law.org/ConstitutionOfTheFederalRepublicOfNigeria.htm

If the President of the land takes the first step to weaken the laws of the land, how do you then enforce those laws at any level below that?

GEJ is a buffoon. There I said it, and his sycophants are even much bigger buffoons. May the ill his buffoonery is causing Nigeria follow him.