Lawyer writes Conduct Bureau over Buhari’s assets declaration form

Lawyer writes Conduct Bureau over Buhari’s assets declaration form

Muhammadu Buhari

An Abuja lawyer, Mr. Akintola Makinde, has urged the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to make the assets declaration forms of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo available for inspection within seven days.

Makinde made the demand in a June 3 letter, which has been acknowledged by the bureau.

The lawyer said he made the application pursuant to sections 1, 3 and 4 of the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act and  Sections 3(a) and (d) and 15 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, Cap C15, LFN 2004.

To support his application, Makinde also cited paragraphs 3(c) of Part 1 of the Third Schedule and 11(1) of Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule to the 1999 Constitution, as amended

The letter reads: “You will recall that one of the cardinal points in the manifestos of their excellencies,  the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mr. Muhammadu Buhari and the Vice President Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, in the build-up to the elections was a head-on fight against corruption. You will also recall that at several fora, they promised to make the declaration of their assets public upon assumption of office.

“I was, however, met with shock and utmost disappointment when on May 30,  the Head of Presidential Buhari’s media team, Mallam Garba Shehu, addressed the media that the duo had declared their assets, alas refusing to state details of the declaration that was in no way a public declaration promise.

“This development, to concerned Nigerians like myself, is a regrettable setback for the fight against corruption and entrenchment of accountability in public office virtues, which the duo rode on to the attainment of victory at the recently concluded polls.

“It, therefore, behooves me as a legal practitioner who is under a lawful obligation to ensure the engendering of an egalitarian society, where integrity is held supreme; to ensure that  things are rightly put. This will forestall a further breakdown of sanity in the already ravaged system.

“It is on the above circumstances that I invoke the provisions of the law, cited above, to humbly request your good office to make the certified true copies of the declarations of the above public officers available for my inspection within seven days of the receipt of this application, in accordance with the law.

“I undertake to pay all necessary administrative charges and to comply with all conditions prescribed by the law in course of the exercise