Governors, Ministers Must Declare Assets – Buhari - Politics -

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that governors, ministers and top civil servants must declare their assets

Buhari
said the imperative for elected public officials and top civil servants
in the category of permanent secretaries was a constitutional
obligation. .

The president, who had last week made
public his assets, threw the challenge in Accra, Ghana, yesterday where
he had gone on a one-day working visit to President John Dramani Mahama.

The
Nigerian leader was responding to a question from the Ghanaian press
during a joint press conference with Mahama after bilateral talks at the
Peduase Lodge in Aburi on how he could impress it on other African
leaders and public office holders to emulate him by making assets
declaration a priority in governance.

Buhari said assets
declaration had been engrained in the Nigerian Constitution, saying he
had done such four times since 1975 that he had served the country in
various capacities.

His words: “I recall that in 1975 when late
Murtala Mohammed became the Head of State, we were lined up in the
corridor – governors, ministers, members of the Supreme Military Council
– and officials of Ministry of Justice were brought and every
individual was made to declare his assets.

“So right now, all
heads of state and government, governors, ministers, permanent
secretaries will have to declare their assets because it is a
constitutional requirement.

“In Nigeria, it is a constitutional
issue and that is why I am blaming you gentlemen of the press. If you
really want to do investigative journalism, you don’t have to worry me
at this stage; I have declared my assets four times.

“When I was
governor in 1975, I declared. After being Minister of Petroleum and as a
member of Supreme Military Council, I declared. When I was Head of
State and now as a President, I also declared.

“I have declared
my assets and all that I have four times, and you (the media) have the
right to go and demand for my declaration. Instead, I am being
harassed.”

Buhari also challenged Nigerian journalists to go and
look for details of his assets declaration instead of harassing him with
further questions.

He said since he had declared his assets four
times since 1975 that he had served in different capacities in the
country, the journalists could be more investigative in their work if
they could fish out the details.

Buhari said journalists who had
been heckling him to publish the details of what he recently declared
could do better by just using the law to dig up the records of his four
separate declarations since 1975.

On security challenges, the
president said the military was gaining ground and lot of progress was
being made on the fight against Boko Haram to the extent that the
terrorists were now isolated in the Sambisa forest, and would be routed
very soon.

He said: “The first thing I did after I came into
office was to re-organise the military and clear terms were given to
them in terms of retraining, re-equipping and redeployment of troops.

“In the north-east, the military is gaining ground and Boko Haram has been severely limited to the Sambisa Forest.

“Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs) who moved out because of insurgency are
gradually moving back to their constituencies and they are being
integrated into their respective communities.”

He further assured
the public that he would unveil other members of his cabinet before the
end of September this year, failure of which Nigerians could then start
to ask him questions.

“After I was sworn-in, I said I would have
my cabinet in September and I expect that Nigerians should ask me
questions after the 30th of September if I do not do that,” he stressed.

In
his remarks, President Mahama commended Buhari’s efforts at galvanising
West African nations to support their Lake Chad Basin counterparts to
quash Boko Haram through the Multinational Joint Task Force.

He pledged to ensure Ghana plays her part well, including sharing relevant military intelligence with Nigerian authorities.

On
the difficulties faced by Nigerians doing business in Ghana, Mahama
explained that the law requiring them to pay capital/registration levy
of $300,000 would be amended by the Ghanaian parliament as soon as the
already approved biometric registration of ECOWAS traders, which begins
next year, is completed.







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