An online magazine richestlifestyle.com recently
published the ranking of the richest African
presidents. The magazine ranked President
Goodluck Jonathan 6th. Jonathan, a whole president of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a country with the
largest economy in Africa, was assessed to have a total
worth of $100 million dollars.
The president was furious. Speaking through his
spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, he called the idea that
he is worth $100 million dollars false. “As is well
known, President Jonathan has never been a
businessman or entrepreneur, but a life-long public
servant,” Abati argues. “The President has held public
office since 1999 and has regularly declared his assets
as required by Nigerian laws. He has had no personal
income since 1999 other than his official remuneration
as deputy governor, governor, vice president, acting
president and president which are matters of public
record.”
The president then threatened to sue the online
publication for libel. The website immediately removed
Jonathan from the ranking.
But what is President Jonathan’s worth? That question
still needs to be answered.
Since the president will not just tell us and save us and
save himself the headache, we will calculate it for him.
But before we do so, lets look at what the law about
declaration of assets says.
The Nigerian constitution requires that top government
officials declare their assets before they are sworn into
office. President Jonathan did not do so when he was
sworn in on May 29, 2011. Nigerians had to huff and
puff for months. During one media chat when the
question was put to him that Nigerians were worried
that he was disobeying the constitution by not
declaring his assets as at when due, the president said
he did not give a damn.
Eighteen months after, while nobody was looking,
President Goodluck Jonathan declared his assets. We
know this because on September 24th, 2012, the
Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) Dr.
Sam Saba, speaking through Alhaji Ibrahim Manzo, the
Federal Commissioner representing North West in the
Bureau, brought the good news to the media.
At that event, Saba reiterated that no law said that the
President should declare his assets publicly. Saba also
added, “What is important is that he has declared his
assets and when we go through his form and we
discover any area that is questionable, then we will
take him to court.”
This was on September 24th, 2012. At that time the
Code of Conduct Bureau was yet to go through
President Jonathan’s form. Which was how we
determined that it was sent to them around that time.
And since we have not heard from Mr. Saba, over two
years after, we can safely assume that he went through
the forms and found nothing questionable that would
require him to take the president to court as he
promised in that speech at a Compliance Training
Workshop for Public Officers in Abuja.
What President Jonathan declared is secret, sealed and
locked away in the office of Code of Conduct Bureau.
The presidency insists that the constitution did not
require that he makes his declaration public. The
chairman of Code of Conduct Bureau on his part asked
those who want to know what is in the president’s
declaration form to invoke the Freedom of Information
Act.
Paragraph 3, Part I of the Third Schedule to the 1999
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as
amended, provides that the Code of Conduct 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.
The next option left for Nigerians who wish to know the
content of the president’s declaration forms was to
invoke Schedule (c) which says that the Code of
Conduct Bureau retains 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.
In October of 2011, the African Center for Media and
Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) dragged the Code of
Conduct Bureau to court for failing to release to the
public the asset declaration of the president. AFRICMIL
had in July of 2011 sent a Freedom of Information
request “to be allowed to inspect and obtain copies of
the 2007 asset declaration of President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan; the asset declaration of President Goodluck
Ebele Jonathan after the end of his tenure on May 28,
2011; and the current asset declaration of President
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan when he assumed office on
May 29, 2011.”
As expected, nothing has come out of it.
Whatever the constitution says, and whatever
interpretation President Jonathan’s men give it, the
gold standard has always been for government officials
to make their asset declaration public on taking over
office.
President Umaru Yar’Adua did that. He also compelled
the then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to do the
same- something he did a day after he was sworn in.
Despite Jonathan’s refusal to follow best practice in
2011 and his fury at Richestlifestyle.com’s partners
who did the calculations for him, we will, together, try
to do the calculation on these pages.
So let us start our calculation from the declaration
President Jonathan made in 2007 when he was Vice
President under the government of President Umaru
Yar’Adua.
As at 2007, President Jonathan under oath stated that
the value of his assets was N295,304,420.00. At that
time, the figure was N561,148,472.00 less than what
President Umaru Yar’Adua declared – which was
N857,452,892.00
Now note that Jonathan and Yar’Adua came from
similar background. They were university teachers
before they joined the government as political
appointees and later full time politicians. Yar’Adua was
governor of Kastina state for 8 years before he became
President while Jonathan was deputy governor of
Bayelsa for 6 years and governor for 2 years before he
became Vice President of Nigeria. Other than Yar’Adua
coming from a well-off family, the real difference comes
in how long they were at the helm in their respective
states. But because Yar’Adua was in control of Kastina
state, a relatively poor state compared to Jonathan’s
Bayelsa state, the difference in their assets as declared
in 2007 was understandable.
When Jonathan made his assets declaration in 2007,
his spokesman then, Mr. Ima Niboro said that by doing
so the president had shown that “there is nothing to
hide.” He also stated that the then Vice President was
a firm believer in the rule of law which Niboro said had
guided Jonathan in his conduct in office through the
years.
Makes you wonder what happened to the president’s
belief in recent years. Did he suddenly have things to
hide? Or did he suddenly find that the rule of law has
an exaggerated importance?
Based on the declaration made by Jonathan in 2007, he
had four buildings located in Yenegoa, Abuja and his
home town in Ogbia, Bayelsa state.
He said that he owned a five bedroom duplex in
Gwarimpa 11, Abuja. The building he said was acquired
in 2003 through loan and was valued at
N24,990,000.00 Another seven bedroom duplex located
at Otuoke in Ogbia Local government area of Bayelsa
state was valued at N18,000, 000.00 and was acquired
through ‘savings and gifts in kind.“
Jonathan declared another four bedroom duplex
acquired in 2003 through ‘savings and gift in kind’ in
the Kpansia area of Yenegoa. The value of the building
was N15,000,000.00 The last building is four flat storey
house acquired between 2003 and 2007 through
savings, he reported. The value of the property was put
at N10,000,000.00
Under vacant and undeveloped plots, the then vice
president stated as follows: “1032.50 square meter of
land located at Onopa Yenegoa and valued at
N3,098.00. Plot 2C, 374 Low density Area Yenegoa
allocated by the Bayelsa state government and valued
at N150,000.00. 2760.00 square meter plot at cadastral
Zone BO2, Durumi, Abuja, allocated by the Federal
Capital Development Authority and valued at
N5,578,540.00. One Parcel of farm Land at Otuoke
Ogbia acquired through inheritance and estimated at
the value of N50,000,000.00
Plot Medium Density in Yenegoa allocated by the
Federal Ministry of Works and Housing the valued at
N1550.00
Plot 29, Low density Area Plot in Yenegoa allocated by
the Bayelsa state government the value of which was
put at N4,908.00. While the last undeveloped plot
owned by the then vice president is plot 2246 Cadastral
Zone A06, Abuja, the value of which he put at N4,
800,000.00. It was allocated by the Federal Capital
Development Authority, FCDA.
The declaration stated that the then Vice president’s
investment in stocks which was being managed by City
Code Investment Company was as follows.
S/No Name of Stock Number Of Shares Value As
At 5/25/07
1 CADBURY PLC 8,666 N264,313.00
2 FLOUR MILLS PLC 8,466 N635,119.32
3 GUINESS NIG. PLC 6,395 N796,177.50
4 UNILEVER 18,750 N337,500.00
5 UNION BANK OF NIG. PLC 23,466 N727,446.00
6 FIDELITY BANK PLC 33,333 N296,663.70
7 UBA PLC 180,000 N6,838,200.00
8 ACCESS BANK PLC 84,656 N1,635,553.92
9 CADBURY PLC 2,500 N76,250.00
10 UNION BANK PLC 716,109 N22,199,379.00
11 FIRST BANK PLC 20,000 N808,000.00
12 FLOUR MILLS PLC 13,333 N1,000,241.66.00
13 NIGERIAN BREWERIES PLC 10,000
N363,000.00
14 BANK PHB PLC 866,666 N24,959,980.80
15 OANDO 15,125 N1,134,375.00
TOTAL 2,007,465 N62,072,200.00
Other investments include 4nos passenger boats for
hiring which was valued at N5, 260,000.00 while the
total cash in Nigerian banks being personal saving of
salaries/allowances and income from his investments
stood at N58, 984,123.00
The vice president households utensils including
generators, a BMW car valued at N15, 800,000.00
which he said was a gift; air conditioners, furniture,
electronics and kitchen utensils were valued at
N41,800,000. 00
Looking at the figures above and considering capital
gains, appreciations of properties in Abuja and the new
university town of Otuoke and depreciation, a very very
conservative estimate placed the assets as declared in
2007, seven years ago, to be at least five times what it
was then. That is very conservative considering that
last year alone, the Nigerian stock market delivered a
return of 47%.
So the assets declared in 2007 at N295,304,420.00 will
today be worth N1,476,522,100.00 which is about $9.0
million USD.
President Jonathan was Vice President for three years
(2007-2010). As Vice President we believe that his
salaries and allowances and security vote could not be
lower than what a senator takes home in Nigeria each
year. Without adding bribes to pass bills and
unaccounted constituency allocations, a Nigerian
senator takes home $1.4 million each year. The senate
president, the number 3 man in Nigeria takes home at
least twice that, which is $2.8 million. In fact, it is safe
to assume that the perks that come with the office of
the Vice President guarantees that the occupant makes
more money than governors of states. But just to
continue to be conservative in our calculation, let us
say that his remunerations as Vice President came up
to twice what the senate president takes home each
year. So Jonathan would have added $5.6 million a
year.
In three years that would become $17.4 million dollars.
In 2010, Jonathan became the Acting President
following the death of Yar’Adua. What it meant was a
total takeover of the nation’s treasury. If he was
getting as Vice President N1 billion a year as security
vote, it became at least ten times the amount. We
know this going by the discrepancy in what governors
get and what their deputies get in security votes. On
average, a Nigerian governor gets N250 million a month
for security vote ie N3 billion a year while their deputies
get about N300 million a year. Jonathan’s base salary,
allowances, estacodes and other numerous pays also
increased in a significant way.
Continuing with our conservative calculation, instead of
multiplying his pay as Vice President by ten, we will
simply multiply it by two. So, for the next one year as
acting president, 2010 – 2011, Jonathan probably
made $11.2 million dollars.
So as Acting President, he added $11.2 million dollars
to his assets.
In April 2011, he ran for a full term and won. He
became a president in his own right with absolute
control of the government. Two weeks later, on April
29, 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan secretly
approved the transfer of $1.1 billion to the London
account of Malabu Oil and Gas owned by former
Minister of Petroleum and a convicted money launderer,
Dan Etete and Sani Abacha’s son, Mohammed. The
money came from funds paid to the Federal Government
by two multinational companies; Nigeria Agip
Exploration Limited and Shell Nigeria as part of the
settlement of the Malabu oil block case between the
Federal Government, Malabu and the two multinational
oil companies. As soon as the money got into the
account of Malabu Oil in London it was wired to secret
accounts of cronies and some political associates of
President Jonathan.
Without implying that Jonathan benefited in any way,
we know from his 2007 assets declaration that a lot of
money he used to purchase assets he declared came in
form of “gifts in kind.” At this point, it is safe to
assume that the game changed and the money being
dealt with had turned into billions.
As full president, Jonathan’s salaries, allowances and
security votes should be obviously higher than what he
made as acting president. With traveling cost in
billions of naira and feeding allowance hovering around
one billion, the president remuneration could be as high
as five times what it was as acting president. But
thinking along the same conservative line, we say that
he was getting twice the amount he made as acting
president. So that would be $11.2 x 2 = $22.4 million a
year.
In four years, that money would be $22.4 x 4= $89.6
million dollars.
So to add up without factoring in compound interests:
His 2007 assets of N295,304,420.00 will today be
worth N1,476,522,100.00 which is about $9.0 million
USD.
His earnings as Vice President is $17.4 million dollars.
His earnings as acting president is $11.2 million
dollars.
His earning as President is $89.6 million dollars.
So his total worth in assets will be $127.2 million
dollars by the time he leaves office on May 29, 2015.
Now that is a very very conservative estimate. It does
not take into account numerous gifts in kind and in
cash, like the Anglican Church in Otuoke renovated and
donated to President Jonathan by an Italian
construction company, Gitto Construzioni Generali
Nigeria Ltd.
The Nigerian people are mature enough to deal with
any figure public officials announce as their assets.
Nobody in Anambra state lost their minds when Gov.
Andy Uba declared N1 trillion naira assets in what is
now known as anticipatory declaration of what he
hoped to acquire in office. Nigerians are not going to
hit the streets in protest because a president or a
governor or local government chairman announced an
insane amount. Instead, what is insane is the belief
that Nigerians will think the president is poor because
he refused to make public his asset declaration.
President Goodluck Jonathan came to Abuja from
Yenagoa with a cloud of corruption hanging on his head
like a question mark. Any reasonable person would
have thought that he would be the one to embrace
transparency, accountability and openness. Aversion to
best practices and embrace of mediocrity have
continued to crush any hope of real advancement in
Nigeria.
The real shame is not that President Jonathan got
away with not declaring his assets as at when the
constitution required. And it is not that he will not
declare his assets publicly. The shame is that we, as
Nigerian people, do not know how much our president
is paid, how much he costs us and how much he is
worth. Not knowing that forecloses any chance of us
knowing how much leaks out of our system into the
pockets of government officials at every level.
In the meantime, now that you have joined me in
calculating President Goodluck Jonathan’s assets, be
ready to be sued by the president for libel.
RUDOLF http://saharareporters.com/2014/10/14/sue-me-jonathan-youre-worth-120-million-dollars-least-rudolf-ogoo-okonkwo

Another attention seeker.

You have the right to personal opinions as non of them counts as quotable authority.

One law in court of public opinion states that: "If you don't refute it, you've endorsed it as a reference-able fact"

The President has written a rebuttal to the effect he doesn't worth $100,000,000

End of discussion.