Civil society and anti-corruption groups have asked the ministers sacked from President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet to declare their assets publicly. They also said declaration of assets should be a prerequisite for all elected public officers seeking a second tenure in 2015.
The sacked officials are the Ministers of Aviation, Stella Oduah; Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe; Police Affairs, Caleb Olubolade; and the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama, who were relieved from their duty posts on February 12, 2014.
The groups – the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, and the Campaign for Democracy – said it would be wrong, if information on the assets of the ministers was not obtained before they resumed their appointments.
The Code of Conduct Bureau had on February 17, 2014, asked the ministers to declare their assets.
A statement by the Head of Press and Protocol Unit, CCB, Mrs. Iyabo Akinwale, said the directive was in accordance with “Paragraph 11 of the 5th Schedule, Part One of the 1999 Constitution.”
It quoted the schedule as stating that, “Every public officer shall, within three months after coming into force of this bureau or immediately after taking office and at the end of every four years, submit to it a written declaration of all property, assets and liabilities.”
Speaking to our correspondent on Friday, the President, CD, Joe Okei-Odumakin, described the move by the CCB as a right step in the right direction. She appealed to the bureau to ensure public declaration of assets.
She said such would help the bureau and the public keep a tab on officials who had corruptly enriched themselves.
Okei-Odumakin added that if the bureau must function as an institution, it must create a template. She also decried officials’ refusal to declare assets.
“The problem with declaration of assets is that we do not know what they declared initially because it was not made public,” she said.
Also, the Executive Director, SERAP, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said it would be a failure on the part of the CCB, if it did not obtain information on the assets of the ex-ministers.
Mumuni said, “We should ask the bureau if it followed the requirements to the letter when they (ministers) were coming in so that we will be able to compare what their assets were at the beginning, when they were coming in, and what their assets are now. It is Nigerian to comply with rules by half.”
He faulted Jonathan for not making information on his assets public when he became President. He said such would have been an example for his aides to follow.
He stated that SERAP had requested a copy of Jonathan’s asset declaration form but both the Presidency and CCB allegedly declined to provide the document.
“What he (Jonathan) should have done was to declare his assets publicly and not to fill a form in the corner of his office and forward it to the CCB. He should have made it a public show and he would have directed his appointees to do the same publicly,” Mumuni added.
Similarly, the Executive Chairman, CACOL, Debo Adeniran, said the CCB was right in making the request. He urged the CCB to ensure that all public officials declares their assets.
Mumuni noted that every asset declared must be verified by the bureau.
He added, “It should also persuade the President and the Vice-President to make their declaration public. And this declaration should be verified.
“Some of them, we know, engage in anticipatory declaration, whereby they declare assets they didn’t have in advance so that when they acquire them through inordinate means, they will claim that they had declared them.”
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