President Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice, Yemi Osinbajo have not presented themselves for verification of assets they declared to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) two months after they assumed office.They had said they could not make the declared asset public – which they promised to do within 100 days of assumption on office during their campaign period – if the CCB had not verified them.
According to Section 3(a) of the Third Schedule of the nation’s 1999 Constitution, reproduced in section 3(b) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act confers the power to verify the assets declared by the public officers on the CCB.
Chiarman of the CCB, Sam Saba, who spoke to Punch on Thursday, July 30, 2015 Buhari and Osinbajo are yet to report to the CCB for verification.
Saba said the verificiation may happen soon as “we are waiting for when it is convenient for Mr. President and his Vice for us to go and do it.
“There is cooperation between us and other anti-corruption agencies. We have even signed memorandum of understanding.
“For example, if the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has a case that involves any public officer, they (EFCC) request for the forms (completed assets declaration form) from us and we give them, the same thing with the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, including the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and when we need help we also ask them.
“I have just said that we should draft a letter to the NFIU requesting for the financial profile of the outgone governors and the incumbent ones so that we can make comparison in our verification exercise.”
But in a twist of events, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu on Saturday, August 1, 2015 said President Buhari and Osinbajo are not required to appear before the CCb for verification, adding that the verification is done discretely by the CCB, who would then revert to them if any discrepancy was found.
He said: “Nigerians should be fair to the President and the Vice President. There is no requirement for them to appear for verification.
“It is an intelligence exercise that should be done discreetly.
“They have declared their assets and have also promised to make it public within their 100 days in office.
“People should not sensationalise this issue unnecessarily.”
