President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will finally declare their assets publicly after the Code of Conduct Bureau must have verified it.
Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu disclosed this in a statement on Saturday evening.
Buhari’s failure to declare his assets publicly upon assumption of power shocked many who believe that transparency begins that way. More so, he had promised during his campaign to do so.
The Code of Conduct Bureau had claimed that it lacked the constitutional powers to Make Buhari’s assets declation public.
Apparently in response to comments about the matter, Buhari was quoted in a statement by Garba Shehu as saying that his declared assets and those of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will be released to the public upon the completion of their verification by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).
“It is hoped that this process will be completed before the expiry of the 100-day deadline within which they said they would do this,” Shehu said.
He stated that the commitment of Buhari and Osinbajo to transparency should not be doubted as they submitted the duly completed forms “to the CCB on March 28th, a clear day ahead of their inauguration.”
According to Shehu, the statement was needed to dismiss suggestions that the President and the Vice-President may not declare their assets publicly.
“While such public display of concern is appreciated and valued, it must be said that it is a little precipitate.
“As required by law, the declaration and submission of documents to the CCB have been made, but there still remains the aspect of verification which the Bureau will have to conduct to authenticate the submissions made to it.
“In the circumstances, it is only after this verification exercise, and not before, that the declaration can be said to have been made and validated; and only after this, will the details be released to the public.
“There is no question at all that the President and the Vice President are committed to public declaration of their assets within the 100 days that they pledged during the presidential campaign.
“The President and the Vice President wish to thank Nigerians for their show of concern, and for the confidence they have shown in their leaders’ integrity, as evidenced by the high pedestal of uprightness and expectations on which they have placed them” the statement read.
