Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has instructed the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima, and 28 incoming governors to declare their assets before May 29, which is twenty-two days before the presidential inauguration.
According to the CCB spokesperson, Mrs. Veronica Kato, asset declaration is an integral part of the swearing-in ceremony as per the law, and all elected officials are required to declare their assets before taking office, News About Nigeria reports.
Senators-elect and Reps-elect are also expected to declare their assets before June 5, which is when they will be sworn in.
The CCB has already started issuing asset declaration forms to several elected officials across the country, and they are expected to submit the filled copies to the bureau before the inauguration day.
Outgoing officials, including presidential aides, 28 state governors and their cabinet members, National Assembly, and state assembly members, and local government chairmen, are also required to obtain and submit the assets declaration forms in line with the 1999 constitution.
The constitution stipulates that all public officers must declare their assets and liabilities when assuming office and at the end of their tenure of office.
The declaration includes detailed information such as the number, types, address, and value of properties declared, the date of acquisition, and income derivable from the properties where appropriate. The declarations are subject to verification by CCB officers.
Failure to declare assets as required under the provisions of paragraph 11 of the 5th Schedule of the Federal Constitution may lead to removal from office, disqualification from holding any public office, and forfeiture to the state of any property acquired in abuse of office or dishonesty.
The CCB spokesperson warned that any official who defaults would not be sworn in as asset declaration is part of the inauguration process. Outgoing public officials have also begun picking up the assets declaration forms as part of the requirements for exiting the office.
Many of them have started picking up the forms because officials are required to fill the forms and declare their assets both at the beginning and at the end of their tenure.
In Ogun State, no fewer than 40 incoming public officials have reportedly obtained the assets declaration forms ahead of the May 29 swearing-in ceremony, including those who lost elections.
They obtained the forms from the Abeokuta office of the CCB. The state governor, deputy governor, nine members of the House of Representatives, three Senators, and 26 members of the state House of Assembly have obtained the assets declaration forms.
Assets declaration is usually part of the taking-over process, according to Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Augustine Alegeh.
He explained that before swearing-in, there are protocols that are supposed to be sealed and signed. It is submitted, and the high court signs it before swearing in alongside other documents like the certificate of return.
Adam Osikwe, SAN, noted that elected officials are expected to declare their assets upon assumption and after four years as enshrined in the constitution.
However, he observed that there were some loopholes in the CCB framework, noting that public officials could acquire properties while in office and sell them without declaring them.
