Last week, the bureau asked the president and his vice, along with 29 governors and 42 ministers due to vacate office on May 29, declare all their assets, just as they were supposed to do before assuming office. Also on the list of public officials who must declare their assets before leaving office are the country’s 109 senators and the 360 members of the House of Representatives.
Already, the bureau has issued Completed Assets Declaration Forms to them with a 30-day deadline to return the completed forms. Apart from the outgoing government officials, the forms have also been made available to incoming public officers, particularly members of the state houses of assembly and the National Assembly.
All officers that will be assuming office in the incoming dispensation also have to return the completed forms within 30 days of receiving it. CCB acting secretary Kolade Omoyola, reminded political office holders to declare their assets on assumption and vacation of office in accordance with Paragraph II of the 5th Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
According to the law quoted by the CCB, the failure of a public officer to declare his or her assets in line with law shall attract on conviction any or all of the following: (a) Removal from office (b) Disqualification from holding any public office, (c) Forfeiture to the state any property acquired in abuse of office or dishonesty. Last year, President Jonathan rejected calls for public office holders to declare their assets openly, before and after office, saying it is playing to the gallery.
President Jonathan said that no amount of pressure would make him declare what he owned in public. He argued that making his assets public knowledge would not change the economy or solve the challenges in the security, power and agriculture sectors.
He added that as vice president to the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, he declared his assets then because Yar’Adua forced him to. President Yar’Adua is the only Nigerian president known to have declared his assets upon assumption of office.
President Jonathan said: “The issue of public assets declaration is a matter of personal principle. The law is clear that 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, including ministers. When I was a governor in Bayelsa State for about a year before becoming vice-president, I was investigated thoroughly and I have nothing to hide but because I was under somebody and it was becoming an issue and because of the media and my boss had declared, it was said that the vice-president must, so I declared, not because I wanted to.”
So far, only seven senators and 40 House of Representatives members in the outgoing 7th National Assembly have submitted their forms to the bureau as required of them under the law. Also, only two of the 42 ministers have also completed and submitted their forms and it is not known if these include President Jonathan and Vice President Sambo.
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