The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) issued an open letter on May 27, 2023, urging President-Elect Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu to disclose his assets, income, investments, liabilities, and interests, and encourage his Vice-President-Elect to do the same.
The organization emphasized that Tinubu should prioritize human rights, media freedom, the rule of law, and the judiciary, promptly obeying court judgments that the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration treated with disregard and contempt. SERAP also remarked that Tinubu’s pledge to combat corruption was not new, as Buhari made a similar declaration in 2015.
As Nigerians have witnessed for eight years, Buhari has neither ‘killed corruption’ nor obeyed court judgments on transparency and accountability.”
According to SERAP, “Widely publishing details of your assets, income, investments and liabilities and encouraging your Vice-President-Elect and others to do the same would allow Nigerians to know your worth and the worth of other public officials.”
SERAP said, “If your election is upheld by the judiciary, your government can use transparency in asset declarations as a means of promoting public accountability and ending systemic corruption in the country.”
The letter, read in part, “Buhari’s broken promises to make specific details of his assets public and to ‘kill corruption’ have opened up the country’s political and electoral processes to a money free-for-all, discouraged political participation and contributed to impunity for corruption.”
Although President Buhari’s march to Aso Rock was predicated, in large part, on his campaign rhetoric to ‘kill corruption’, corruption remains widespread among high-ranking public officials and in ministries, departments and agencies [MDAs].”
“Making public details of your assets, liabilities, and interests would reduce unjust enrichment of public officials, ensure integrity in public offices and promote transparency and accountability as well as good governance.”
“Nigeria is very rich but its wealth is gravitating rapidly into the hands of a small portion of the population, and the power of corrupt enrichment has continued to threaten to undermine the political integrity of the country.”
“The tendency for politicians when trying to persuade Nigerians to vote for them is to conceal or hide traits that might make voters reluctant to vote them into power and to hide what they want to do with that power. But once voted into power, politicians become trustees of public wealth and resources and must remove the camouflage.”
Bureau (CCB) and Tribunal Act also requires all public officers to declare their assets.”
“Article 8 of United Nations Convention against Corruption provides for the codes of conduct for public officials and requires states parties including Nigeria to ensure probity in public office. Article 8(5) particularly requires states parties to establish systems that require public officials to declare their outside activities, employment, investments, assets and substantial gifts or benefits.”
“Article 7(1) of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption also provides a similar requirement for public officials to declare their assets before, during, and after serving in public office.”
“The Nigerian Constitution and the anticorruption and human rights treaties show the significant role that asset declaration by public officials plays in promoting transparency, accountability and preventing and combating corruption in the public service.”
“Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution makes provision for the fundamental right to information. Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also guarantee access to information.”
“We hope that the aspects highlighted will help guide your steps in taking steps to publish your asset declaration form and to encourage others to do so.”