Futility Of One-way Assets Declaration

(Published by The GUARDIAN Newspapers on 27 November, 2016)
(Published by VANGUARD Newspapers on 07 December, 2016)
By Carl Umegboro
The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria mandates specific public officeholders to declare personal assets on assumption of offices. Based on this, President Muhammadu Buhari and his vice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo complied after inauguration, regrettably an action that was also taken by all the previous administrations that declined to do same after leaving office. Possibly, it was done for doing sake. The singular act denotes that declaration of assets for public officeholders that is conventionally in sync with accountability is over the years a mere political propaganda.

Commonsensically, and even as a norm in the society, it is requisite for someone who declared assets and personal belongings on entry into a place to do same on exit, if not, a futile exercise taking such action on entry. Some had even argued that such vital civic duty is discretionary. Then, a pertinent issue that continues to demand for answers is the objectives of multiple anti-corruption agencies established by law, to wit; Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) if a task as declaration of assets could be audaciously pigeonholed optional. Obviously, no public officeholder should be entitled to severance packages, pension or gratuities until a final declaration is verifiably done after handover. Transition of power goes beyond the ceremonial armed-forces march-pasts alongside twenty one gun salute. A public officeholder who fails to render detailed accounts of stewardship to the successor is indebted to the public despite the handover ceremonies. This is a conventional norm among civilized nations across the world. Nigeria is 54 years old, and therefore should outgrow a nascent-democracy status even though it was hijacked by military juntas for several years.

If declaration is not made mandatory at both entry and exit of public offices, it is nonetheless nothing but one of those devious gobbledygook in the system. In other words, some state governors that till date refused to toe the line of Buhari and Osinbajo to publicly declare their assets may not utterly be condemned knowing that such exercise is so far never an issue at the time of leaving offices. Another fundamental issue is the verification of claims in the lists provided by the willing declarants. Sometime ago, a PDP gubernatorial candidate and member of the Senate boldly declared a mind-blowing N3trillion worth of assets during his election as the Anambra state governor without any substantial business empires anywhere, unfortunately or fortunately for the state as the case may be, his calculated dream was aborted by the court. The controversial declaration of assets generated severe confusions as it wasn’t clear if the value represented prospective or anticipatory assets to acquire before leaving office as the state governor or current assets. In the developed world, the claimant should be under obligation to present his sources and evidences of tax paid on such claimed investments.

More worrisome, is the conduct of officials of the anti-corruption agencies putting into consideration the bombshells released some time ago over how some of the loots recovered from the former governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Deipreye Alamieyeseigha and others were allegedly diverted to private pockets by the boss of the same prosecuting anti-corruption agencies.  This imperatively entails that for a meaningful impact to be attained, the public declaration of assets should be holistic, and essentially extends to the operatives as a check against the existing kleptomania of ‘thieving from the thieves’. The operatives should inclusively be subjected to declaration of their assets. The senselessness of these misadventures is gigantic and connotes ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’. In the Customs for instance, contrabands are ceased from owners in disguise of official duties only for ownerships to be converted back to these officials through proxies in auctions.

Declaration of assets as effected by Buhari and Osinbajo is a normalcy and should be made compulsory for all government officials; elected or appointed. If not, the aides will continue with the usual confidential duties to aid in corrupt activities for their principals. However, the onus still rests solemnly on the duo to set a precedent by repeating action at the expiration of office rather than emulate the predecessors. Importantly, all high-ranking public officeholders should be made to compulsory declare assets at both assumption and termination of appointments or tenures. The former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s eight-years administration which initiated a war against corruption albeit seemingly selective as widely believed, till date continues to revel in his private presidential library funded with over N2billion raised unflinchingly from the public with the instrument of his office against the Public Service Act.  That’s the height of abuse of office which is tantamount to corruption.

Suffice to say that as the two arrowheads of the present administration did the needful by declaring assets on entry, logically the same should be extended to all others and essentially to be repeated at the expiration of tenure. As change mantra entails a new beginning for Nigeria, things must clearly be done differently and accordingly. To discretionarily declare assets only on assumption of office as witnessed in previous governments for the past over one and half decades is deceitful, nonsensical and futile. The legislature ought to review the blunders in the enabling laws.  Absolutely, declaration cannot be on voluntarism as accountability is laconically, the hallmark of democracy.  

Umegboro is a public affairs analyst and publisher.


 
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