President Muhammadu Buhari has taken the anti-corruption war to the public sector as he goes after public office holders who refuse to declare their assets.
President Muhammadu Buhari
There are strong indications that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has directed all Federal Government ministries, departments and agencies to ensure that their members of staff comply with the law on asset declaration, Punch reports.
According to information gathered, Buhari has made it clear through a presidential directive that all public office holders must declare their assets. It is believed this new measure will go a long way in tackling the issue of corruption in government.
Findings showed that the order must have informed the directive by the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Customs Service that their officers should declare their assets.
A senior government official has revealed that the government would not only ensure that public office holders declared their assets, but also made it clear that anti-graft agencies would monitor their incomes and the wealth they had acquired.
He added that the law on asset declaration does not only apply to politicians holding public offices, but also civil servants.
The source said, “The government has directed that all public officers must declare their assets. Some people wrongly believe that asset declaration only applies to politicians. Civil servants are also required to declare their assets; that is what the law says. But the law does not require them to make public assets they have declared.
“There are many civil servants with many mansions in Abuja. Anti-graft agencies will now be matching their incomes with their wealth.”
Taking the lead in the process, the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka, had, in a statement on Thursday, said that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt- Gen. Tukur Buratai, had directed all officers of the Nigerian Army to declare their assets.
He added that Buratai had declared his assets on his appointment as Commander, Multinational Joint Task Force in May 2015 and when he was appointed as Chief of Army Staff in July 2015.
Kukasheka had said, “This directive is in order, considering the fact that all military officers are having Presidential Commission and are public servants, as well as subject to both civil and military laws. In addition, given the current drive of the country for probity and accountability, the Nigerian Army should not only key in but should be one of the key drivers for such a laudable project.”
However, the Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau, Mr. Sam Saba has revealed that some of the military personnel have refused to declare their assets.
He had stated, “Some of the military personnel declare but most of them are not declaring (theirs). They used to declare (their assets) in the early 90s but somehow, they just stopped. Only some of them who are service chiefs declare, but the remaining ones do not fill the forms.”
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), had on January 15, directed all officers of the service to declare their assets within two weeks. The Nigeria Immigration Service on its part, had on Thursday, said that its personnel had taken asset declaration seriously.
The NIS Public Relations Officer, Ekpedeme King, has said all its officers will comply with the directive.
He said, “We don’t need to issue fresh directives to our personnel to declare their assets because they have been doing that periodically. This is in line with the Code of Conduct for public officials and it is compulsory for all revenue generating agencies of the government.”
It has been revealed that the Nigeria Police Force has yet to respond to inquiries about asset declaration by its personnel, a code of conduct requirement for public officials.
According to Punch, the authorities of the military and the Nigeria Customs Service had directed their personnel to declare their assets as part of efforts to sanitise the polity and as required by law. But, the Nigerian Police seems not to care.
