The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has revealed that the President-elect, Bola Tinubu; the Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima and 28 incoming governors are expected to declare their asset before May 29.
OsunDaily News reports that the CCB’s submission has come barely two weeks before the presidential inauguration.
The CCB spokesperson, Mrs Veronica Kato, told The Punch that asset declaration was an integral part of the swearing-in ceremony, according to the law.
According to her, several elected officials had started picking their assets declaration forms at the CCB state offices nationwide, and they were expected to submit the filled copies to the bureau before the inauguration day.
She said other officials expected to submit their asset declaration forms before June 5 include senators-elect and Reps-elect.
While it’s yet to be confirmed if President Muhammadu Buhari, and his vice, Prof Yemi Osinbajo and other public officials had declared their assets preparatory to leaving office in compliance with the requirements of the law, the CCB said outgoing governors and Senators and Reps-elect are as well expected to submit their asset declaration form before leaving office.
Kato said “The constitution stipulates that all public officers shall declare their assets and liabilities on the assumption of office and at the end of their tenure of office.
“The declarations are subject to verification by the CCB officers.
“Failure to declare their assets as required under the provisions of paragraph 11 of the 5th Schedule of the Federal Constitution attracts on conviction removal from office, disqualification from holding any public office and forfeiture to the state of any property acquired in abuse of office or dishonesty.”
Giving an update on the development of the exercise at state level, the CCB spokesperson explained that “We have earlier revealed that the assets declaration is an ongoing process. Currently, they are already obtaining their forms as they are coming in.
“However, I can’t specifically state the total number of elected officials that have collected their assets declaration forms or their names because they are getting the forms from our various offices nationwide.
“The development is going on in the 36 other offices as we are doing it at the head office here in the Federal Capital Territory. Hence, until we are done receiving their filled forms, and have collated the figures, we cannot specifically tell the total number of persons that have picked up or submitted their forms.’’
