AfriqueCAN
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project – SERAP, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to request the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, to publish his assets www.AfriqueCAN.com
The group, in a letter, also appealed to Tinubu to encourage his Vice, Kashim Shettima, ministers, leaders of the National Assembly, state governors, and the 774 local governments chairmen in the country to do the same.
It will be recalled that Tinubu had during his first Presidential Media Chat last week, said he would consider asking the CCB to publish his assets.
“But your ‘consideration’ would ‘carry more weight’ if you were to promptly translate the intent into action by asking the CCB to publish your assets and encouraging your vice-president, ministers, leadership of the National Assembly and state governors, as well as the chairmen of local governments, to do the same,” part of the letter signed by SERAP’s deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare said.
In the letter, the Accountability Project observed that the secrecy in the assets declared by high-ranking public officials to the CCB continues to facilitate corruption at all levels of government, especially in the country’s 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory, and federal ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, as well as local governments.
SERAP argued that the secrecy in asset declaration forms also provides the biggest opportunities for the abuse of public funds for private gain, adding that, acting as recommended would reduce the opportunities for corruption at all levels of government.
The letter explained that transparency and accountability in the states and local governments won’t happen without the President pushing for the immediate and effective implementation of the Supreme Court decision of 11 July 2024, stopping state governors from taking over local government funds.
The letter noted that “asking the CCB to publish Tinubu’s assets and encouraging the vice-president, ministers, the leadership of the National Assembly and state governors, as well as the chairmen of local governments, to also ask the CCB to publish their assets would promote and ensure public trust, transparency and accountability”.