With five days to the end of President Goodluck
Jonathan’s tenure, the President, Vice-President Namadi
Sambo, 29 governors and 42 ministers have been asked
by the Code of Conduct Bureau to declare their assets,
SUNDAY PUNCH authoritatively reports.
Also on the list of public officials who must declare their
assets before leaving office are the country’s 109
senators and 360 members of the House of
Representatives.
The bureau, last week, issued the Completed Assets
Declaration Forms to them with a 30-day deadline to
return the completed forms. The deadline countdown
starts from the day of the receipt of
the forms.
Apart from the outgoing government officials, the forms
have also been made available to incoming public
officers, particularly members of the states and National
Assembly.
The officers that will be assuming office in the incoming
dispensation also have to return the completed forms
within 30 days of receiving it.
The CCB, in an advertorial by its Acting Secretary,
Kolade Omoyola, in some newspapers last Tuesday, had
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, 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.”
Jonathan had, last year, rejected calls on public office
holders to declare their assets openly, before and after
office. According to the President, public declaration of
assets is “playing to the gallery.”
The President said this during his third presidential
media chat in Aso Villa, Abuja. The President
emphasised that no amount of pressure would make him
declare what he owned. 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
Musa Yar’Adua, he declared his assets then because
Yar’Adua forced him to. Yar’Adua is the only Nigerian
President known to have declared his assets.
SUNDAY PUNCH further gathered that 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.
Their correspondent also learnt that two of the 42
ministers have also completed and submitted their
forms.
It could not be confirmed on Friday whether President
Jonathan, Sambo
No comments:
Post a Comment