I Will Publicly Declare My Assets If I Win - Buhari

Presidential candidate of the All Progressives
Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari
(retd.), said he would publicly declare his
assets and liabilities, if voted into power.
Buhari stated this in a document obtained by
our correspondent in Abuja on Thursday. The
document highlights what Buhari will do in
his first 100 days if he assumes power on
May 29.
He said he would encourage political
appointees in his administration to also
declare their assets publicly.
If the APC candidate keeps to his promise,
he will be the second Nigeria’s President to
publicly declare his assets.
The late President, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua,
also from Katsina State as Buhari, was the
first and the only Nigeria’s President to have
publicly declared his assets when he
assumed office.
This action forced his then deputy, who is
now the President Goodluck Jonathan, to
also make his assets declaration forms
available to the public.
However, since he assumed office as the
substantive President, Jonathan has refused
to make the forms available to the public,
saying that he did that when he was serving
as deputy to Yar’Adua.
Asked during a media chat whether he
would consider declaring his assets publicity,
the President refused, saying he did not give
a damn.
But Buhari, in the document titled, “I pledge
to Nigeria” also said that all his political
appointees would only earn salaries and
allowances as prescribed by the Revenue
and Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation
Commission.
He said, “I pledge to publicly declare my
assets and liabilities, encourage all my
appointees to publicity declare their assets
and liabilities as a pre-condition for
appointment.
“All political appointees will only earn the
salaries and allowances determined by the
RMFAC.”
While pledging to personally lead the war
against corruption in the country, Buhari also
said that he would inaugurate the National
Council on Procurement as stipulated in the
Procurement Act.
He added that the Federal Executive Council,
which he said had been turned to a weekly
session of contract bazaar, would be made
to concentrate on its principal function of
policy making.
He said that he would also work with the
National Assembly towards the immediate
enactment of a Whistle Blower Act.
On the other ways to strengthen the anti-
graft war, he said, “We will work with the
National Assembly to strengthen the
Independent Corruption Practices and other
related Offences Commission and the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
by guaranteeing institutional autonomy,
including financial and prosecutorial
independence and security of tenure of
officials.
“We will also make the Financial Intelligence
Unit of the EFCC autonomous and
operational; encourage proactive disclosure
of information by government institutions in
the spirit of the Freedom of Information Act.”
He also promised that his government would
work with the leadership of the National
Assembly and the judiciary to cut down the
cost of governance.
On insurgency and insecurity in the country,
the former head of state said that he had had
the rare privilege of serving the country in
the military in various capacities and rose to
the rank of a major general and Commander
-in -Chief of the Armed Forces, he would
defend the integrity of the nation.
“I pledge, as Commander-in-Chief, to lead
from the front and not behind in the comfort
and security of Aso Rock, to boost the
morale of fighting forces and the generality of
all Nigerians,” he said.
On the fate of the kidnapped Chibok girls,
Buhari said that as a father, he had been
feeling the pain of the victims of insurgency,
kidnapping and violence whether “they are
widows and orphans of the military,
paramilitary, civilians and parents or the
Chibok girls.
“My government shall act decisively on any
actionable intelligence to #BringBack Our
Girls.”