President Muhammadu Buhari
and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo,
finally, disclosed details of their
declared assets Thursday, bowing
to growing public pressure for the
new government to do so within
its first 100 days.
Mr. Buhari had N30 million in his
bank account before taking office
on May 29, while Mr. Osinbajo
had N94 million and $900,000, the
presidency said in a statement
Thursday, quoting details from
the asset declaration forms filed
by the two leaders at the Code of
Conduct Bureau.
The president owns five houses in
Kaduna, Daura, Kano and Abuja,
and has two undeveloped plots of
land, one in Kano and the other
in Port Harcourt, his office said.
Mr. Buhari also has farms, an
orchard, ranch, livestock
including 270 cattle, 25 sheep, five
horses, a variety of birds and a
number of economic trees,
according to the statement.
He has an unstated “number of
cars”.
Vice President Osinbajo owns 4-
bedroom residence at Victoria
Garden City, Lagos and a 3-
bedroom flat at 2 Mosley Road,
Ikoyi.
He also has a 2-bedroom flat at
the popular Redemption Camp
along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway
and a 2-bedroom mortgaged
property in Bedford, England.
Apart from his law firm, known
as SimmonsCooper, he has
shareholding in Octogenerium
Ltd., Windsor Grant Ltd.,
Tarapolsa, Vistorion Ltd., Aviva
Ltd. and MTN Nigeria – all based
in Lagos.
The disclosures came as the
president faces growing criticism
from Nigerians who have
condemned his failure to form a
cabinet and make public his
assets more than three months in
office.
Public outrage escalated in recent
days after it became clear Mr.
Buhari’s appointments so far
lacked regional and gender
balance.
A former military ruler, Mr. Buhari rode to a
historic election win over incumbent President
Goodluck Jonathan on March 28, on his
pledge to stamp out rampant corruption.
He cut the picture of a no-nonsense anti-
corruption fighter, and with his flaunted
lifestyle of an austere leader who had no
plush homes in Nigeria and abroad.
Ahead of the 2015 elections, the president
narrated how he took a bank loan to pay for
his party’s nomination forms, which sold for
N27 million.
For many Nigerians, weary of the country’s
unimaginable level of government corruption,
Mr. Buhari’s sincerity about confronting the
monster needed to start with his public
declaration of assets.
More so, a transition committee set up by the
president also advised Mr. Buhari to promptly
deliver on his promise to declare his assets
publicly.
But after taking office, Mr. Buhari dragged his
feet.
The presidency explained he was awaiting
verification of the declared assets by the Code
of Conduct Bureau before making the details
public.
A week away from the government’s 100th
day, and faced by a distrustful public, the
presidency and the ruling All Progressives
Congress denied the president made any
promise to Nigerians within his first 100 days
in office.
A PREMIUM TIMES report Tuesday proved
that claim was a lie.
The statement from the presidency on
Thursday painstakingly highlighted how Mr.
Buhari, as a former leader who also served as
petroleum minister and head of the petroleum
development fund, was worth so measly in a
country where less important officials are
worth several billions of naira.
Mr. Buhari has one bank account (with the
Union Bank), no foreign account, no factory,
no enterprises, and no oil wells, the
presidency said.
It said the president has shares in Berger
Paints, Union Bank and Skye Bank.
Two of his houses in his native Daura are
mud-made, the statement said.
“He borrowed money from the old Barclays
Bank to build two of his homes,” the
presidency said.
“The documents also showed that the retired
General uses a number of cars, two of which
he bought from his savings and the others
supplied to him by the federal government in
his capacity as former Head of State. The rest
were donated to him by well-wishers after his
jeep was damaged in a Boko Haram bomb
attack on his convoy in July 2014,” the
presidency added.
The personal vehicles of Vice President
Osinbajo are one Infinity 4-Wheel Drive SUV,
one Mercedes Benz and a Prado Jeep, the
statement also stated.
Full details of the declaration would be
available to the public after verification by
CCB, it said.
Read the presidency statement in full below:
“Documents submitted by President
Muhammadu Buhari to the Code of
Conduct Bureau (CCB), show that
the retired General has indeed been
living an austere and Spartan
lifestyle, contrary to what many
might expect of a former Head of
State of Nigeria and one who has
held a number of top government
positions, such as governor,
Minister of petroleum and the head
of the Petroleum Development Trust
Fund (PTDF).
“The documents submitted to the
CCB, which officials say are still
being vetted and will soon be made
public, show that prior to being
sworn in on May 29, President
Buhari had less than N30 million to
his name. He also had only one
bank account, with the Union Bank.
President Buhari had no foreign
account, no factory and no
enterprises.
“He also had no registered company
and no oil wells.
“The Vice President, Professor Yemi
Osinbajo (SAN) who had been a
successful lawyer before his foray
into politics declared a bank
balance of about N94 million and
900,000 United States Dollars in his
bank accounts.
“President Buhari declared however
that he had shares in Berger Paints,
Union Bank and Skye Bank.
“This is entirely unlike what one
might expect from a former head of
state of a country like Nigeria.
“The documents also revealed that
President Buhari had a total of five
homes, and two mud houses in
Daura. He had two homes in
Kaduna, one each in Kano, Daura
and in Abuja. One of the mud
houses in Daura was inherited from
his late older sister, another from
his late father. He borrowed money
from the old Barclays Bank to build
two of his homes.
“President Buhari also has two
undeveloped plots of land, one in
Kano and the other in Port
Harcourt. He is still trying to trace
the location of the Port Harcourt
land.
“In addition to the homes in Daura,
he has farms, an orchard and a
ranch. The total number of his
holdings in the farm include 270
heads of cattle, 25 sheep, five
horses, a variety of birds and a
number of economic trees.
“The documents also showed that
the retired General uses a number
of cars, two of which he bought
from his savings and the others
supplied to him by the federal
government in his capacity as
former Head of State. The rest were
donated to him by well-wishers
after his jeep was damaged in a
Boko Haram bomb attack on his
convoy in July 2014.
“As revealed by the same forms,
highlights of the Vice-President,
Professor Yemi Osinbajo’s asset
declaration include his 4-bedroom
residence at Victoria Garden City,
Lagos and a 3-bedroom flat at 2
Mosley Road, Ikoyi. The Vice
President also has a 2-bedroom flat
at the popular Redemption Camp
along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and
a 2-bedroom mortgaged property in
Bedford, England. Aside from these,
the Vice President has no other
landed properties on the form.
“Apart from his law firm, known as
SimmonsCooper, the Vice-President
also declared shareholding in six
private companies based in Lagos,
including Octogenerium Ltd.,
Windsor Grant Ltd., Tarapolsa,
Vistorion Ltd., Aviva Ltd. and MTN
Nigeria.
“According to details shown on the
form, the Vice-President has about
ninety four million naira, nine
hundred thousand US dollars and
nineteen thousand pounds in
Nigerian Banks with the foreign
currencies kept in local domiciliary
accounts. His personal vehicles are
one Infinity 4-Wheel Drive SUV, one
Mercedes Benz and a Prado Jeep.
“As soon as the CCB is through
with the process, the documents will
be released to the Nigerian public
and people can see for themselves.”
Signed :
Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the
President (Media and Publicity)
03-09-15
Source: Premium Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment