Friday, 4 September 2015

No - nonesense President Buhari and VP Osinbajo declare assets.
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.

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