Atiku asks Tinubu to declare assets if he has nothing to hide
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Atiku Abubakar has asked President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima to publicly declare their assets to douse allegation of corruption against them and to show leadership by example.
This, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate stressed, will follow in the footsteps of the late President Umaru Yar’ Adua who publicly declared his assets when he assumed office in 2007.
By law, public officials are to declare their assets privately to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) when they assume and leave office, but may personally choose to make it public for the sake of transparency.
Both Atiku and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) are challenging in court the declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the presidential election held on February 25 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) even though Tinubu was sworn into office on May 29.
Atiku insisted through PDP National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba that it is not enough for Tinubu and Shettima to fill asset declaration forms and return them to the CCB merely to fulfil the requirements of the law.
Ologunagba urged both men to show the world that indeed they are different by following the example of Yar’ Adua in declaring their financial and material worth before Nigerians publicly.
“They should follow the path of the late President Umaru Yar’ Adua to demonstrate to Nigerians their readiness for transparent and accountable leadership. There are provisions in our laws covering asset declarations by public officers; it is a statutory requirement,” Ologunagba stressed.
“Recall that Umaru Yar’Adua, a President elected on the platform of the PDP, declared his assets publicly. Those are the kind of leadership traits expected at that level.”
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No secret submission of assets declaration form
Ologunagba said Tinubu and Shettima should not secretly submit the asset declaration forms they have filled, per reporting by The PUNCH.
But former spokesman of the dissolved APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Festus Keyamo, kicked against the agitation for Tinubu to publicly declare his assets.
“Public declaration of assets is not a legal requirement. The public deserves to know this. It is just a matter of choice. If anyone thinks it is a moral obligation, he can do it. But that is left to individuals,’’ said Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
LP National Chairman Julius Abure stressed that “let’s give him [Tinubu] some time to declare his assets. That’s my opinion. But the law says he should declare his assets. For me, I think he should do it publicly.
“He is already a wealthy man with all his acquisition after serving as a Senator and a two-term Governor. Are you even sure he will remember all his assets?”