The Daily IIJ

President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President David Mark, House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal and Chief Justice of the Federation Dahiru Musdapher should publicly declare their assets, a rights group has said.

Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) said this yesterday in a statement signed by its national coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and its national media officer, Miss Zainab Yusuf and issued in Abuja.

The group said the failure of these political office holders to go public with their assets has a negative implication in the country’s fight against corruption.

The group was reacting to Daily Trust’s story in which the CCB’s secretary, Alhassan Ibrahim, said the bureau couldn’t release the president’s assets declaration details to the public because of certain provisions in the constitution.

The rights group said that Jonathan was morally obliged to lead by example by publicly declaring his assets and encouraging his subordinates to so do, adding that was the sure way of reinvigorating the fight against corruption.

It also faulted the head of Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) for justifying the failure of President Jonathan and other high profile government functionaries to declare their assets publicly because of constitutional constraints.

The rights group said, “amending the relevant sections of the constitution to compel compulsory declaration of assets publicly by President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other top government functionaries is the much needed tonic to stimulate and strengthen the fight against corruption and economic crimes in Nigeria which has increasingly declined in the last five years.”

HURIWA said the failure of President Jonathan to publicly declare his assets was “a serious dent on the heroic role he played in signing the Freedom of Information Act into a valid law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Posterity will judge his administration badly in the fight against corruption if he and his allies in government refuse to publicly declare their assets.”