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”.
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| Buhari Osibnajo |
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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.
Already investigations have already 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
