ASSETS DECLARATION AND PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI

The Head of Media Team to President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu made it known through a statement signed by him that the President and the Vice President have declared their assets as required by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria through the Code of Conduct bureau and such declaration was not made public just like the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan and Arch. Namadi Sambo . 

The fact that the asset declaration was not made public got people talking because they expect that their assets should be declared publicly just like the Late President Umar Musa Yardua, this is because the expectation of Nigerians are high and they want something entirely different from what the last administration and the People's Democratic Party offered.

I shall be shedding light on this from the legal perspective and the provision of the Nigerian Constitution.

The first question is what is the provision of the Constitution in respect of Asset declaration?

Section 140 (1) of the 1999 Constitution state that a person elected to the office of the President shall not begin to perform the functions of the office until he has declared his assets and liabilities as prescribed in this Constitution and he has taken and subscribed the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of Office prescribed in the Seventh schedule of this Constitution.

The Oath of office and Oath of Allegiance has been taken by the president and the Vice- President on the inauguration day(yesterday)

Secondly, did the President and Vice President adhere to this provision?

President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Prof. Yemi Oshibaajo followed due process by declaring their assets immediately after being sworn into office.

What are the steps to be taken in Assets declaration by public office holders in Nigeria?

An assets declaration form shall be given to every public office holders as described by the Constitution, they shall declare their assets ,sign and submit such to the Chairman Code of Conduct Bureau who shall lodge it into the register accordingly.The constitution is silent on whether such assets should be made publicly or not. That is why it will be wrong to fault the action of the President and his Vice for not making it available to the general public either through publication in the dailies or on social medias.

The general public can criticize them for not making it public, if at the time of their campaign they promised to do so but the constitution is silent on whether it should be made private or public.

Who is a public Officer for the purpose of Assets Declaration?

The president, Vice President, Senate President and his vice, speaker House of Representative  and his Deputy, Speaker House of Assembly and his deputy,Governor's and Deputy Governor, Chief Justice and other Justices,Attorney General of the Federation,Ministers of the Government of the Federation and Commissioners ,Inspector General of Police,Ambassadors, Secretary to the Federal and State Government, Chairman and members of staffs of Code of Conducts Bureau, Chairman of Local Governments, Board Chairmen, Staffs of universities owned by federal and state government, permanents secretaries. 

We patiently wait for all public office holders to declare their assets.

Thank You.

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi LLB (hons) BL