Buhari and Osinbajo Makes Public Details Of Their Assets Declaration

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”.

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.
A PREMIUM TIMES report Tuesday 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.