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
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