Buhari Declares 270 Cattles, Mud Houses, N30m… Osinbajo Worth $900,000, N94m & More

President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo
on Thursday made public details of their assets, which had been declared to the
Code of Conduct Bureau.

According to a statement by the President’s Senior Special
Assistant, Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President has about N30m in
his only bank account with the Union Bank Plc, while the Vice President has a
balance of N94m, $900,000 and 19,000 pounds in his bank accounts.

Shehu’s statement said the President had shares in Berger
Paints, Skye Bank and Union Bank and a total of seven houses, comprising two
mud and a standard house in Daura, his hometown; two homes in Kaduna, one in
Kano and one in Abuja.

Also belonging to the President are two undeveloped plots of
land in Kano and Port Harcourt.

Buhari also has an orchard and a ranch in Daura with 270 heads
of cattle, 25 sheep, five horses, a variety of birds and a number of economic
trees in them.

But the statement did not disclose the worth of the landed
property and other assets, which both the President and the Vice President had
declared.

Shehu said the President had no oil well and foreign bank
accounts.

Buhari was also said to have declared that he had several
cars, two of which he said were bought with his savings and the others supplied
to him by the Federal Government in his capacity as a former Head of State.

Buhari’s and Osinbajo’s assets“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 statement added.

For the Vice-President, Shehu said Osinbajo, a Senior Advocate
of Nigeria, declared a four-bedroomed residence at Victoria Garden City in
Lagos; three-bedroomed flat in Ikoyi, Lagos; two bedroomed flat at the
Redempion Camp, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway; and a two-bedroomed mortgage property
in Bedford, England.

The vice president operates his Simmons Cooper Law firm,
which is based in Lagos and has shares in MTN Nigeria, Octogenerium Ltd.,
Windsor Grant Ltd., Tarapolsa Vistorion Ltd., and Aviva Ltd., all of which are
based in Lagos.

Osinbajo is also said to have one Infinity 4-Wheel Drive
SUV, one Mercedes Benz and a Prado Jeep.

Shehu’s statement read in part, “The documents submitted to
the CCB, which officials say are still being vetted and will soon be made
public, show that prior to being sworn in on May 29, President Buhari had less
than N30m to his name. He also had only one bank account, with the Union Bank.
President Buhari had no foreign account, no factory and no enterprises. He also
had no registered company and no oil wells.

“The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) who had been
a successful lawyer before his foray into politics declared a bank balance of
about N94m and $900,000 in his bank accounts.

“President Buhari declared however that he had shares in
Berger Paints, Union Bank and Skye Bank.

“The documents also revealed that President Buhari had a
total of five homes, and two mud houses in Daura. He had two homes in Kaduna,
one each in Kano, Daura and in Abuja. One of the mud houses in Daura was
inherited from his late older sister, another from his late father. He borrowed
money from the old Barclays Bank to build two of his homes.

“President Buhari also has two undeveloped plots of land,
one in Kano and the other in Port Harcourt. He is still trying to trace the
location of the Port Harcourt land.’’

Reacting to the declaration of assets by Buhari and
Osinbajo, a lawyer, Carol Ajie, said the documents had loopholes.

Ajie said Buhari and his deputy needed to “make clear if
they have liabilities or not, bearing in mind that the Constitution places
emphasis on assets and liabilities.”

The lawyer said, “We need a bit more on specificity on some
of the items such as shares in Berger Paints, Union Bank and Skye Bank,
considering the length of time between April when he won the election and now,
a period of six months for assets valuation of his seven houses located in
Daura, Kano, Kaduna and Abuja.

“We have no addresses on these houses and what type of
houses-bungalow, block of flats or duplexes- and estate valuer’s estimates.
Same for his farms, orchard and a ranch in Daura, etc.

Another legal practitioner, Mr. Kayode Ajulo, said the President
had yet to complete the declaration “as it is the law that his spouse is not a
civil servant; the spouse must declare her asset in the same manner as done by
President Buhari.”

“The same goes for his Vice. As it is, there may be
likelihood of violation of the law on declaration of assets,” he added.

President of the Nigerian Voters Assembly, Mashood Erubami,
said the declaration signified leadership by example.

Erubami said, “This is leadership by example. The
declaration will leave no one in doubt about the commitment of the
Buhari/Osinbajo administration to govern transparently and be accountable to
Nigerians before and after office. With the declaration of the President,
nobody will be spared from not declaring his or her assets in accordance with
the laws of the land.

“It is now left to the Code of Conduct Bureau to vet the
declared assets in order to ensure that the assets are real and appropriately
valued. The assets must not be overvalued, and must be vetted to have been
fairly acquired with truly extended current market value. Declaration of assets
is a precondition for selfless, transparent and accountable government, which
must not be sparing and selective.”

Punch