President Goodluck Jonathan has condemned the mounting calls on public office holders to publicly declare their assets while in office, saying such clamour by Nigerians is not right, as officials should be allowed to determine whether making their assets public agree with their principles.
He made it clear his own principle disagree vehemently with allowing the people he governs know how much he is worth and what he really owns.
Fielding questions on Sunday during his third Presidential media chat at the Aso Villa Abuja, Mr. Jonathan said when the matter camme up during his time as Vice President to late President Musa Yar’adua he made it very clear that it was not a right decision to take.
Asked why he has refused to publicly declare his assets as an example for members of his cabinet, the President said, “The issue of public asset declaration is a matter of personal principle. That is the way I see it, and I don’t give a damn about it, even if you criticise me from heaven. When I was the Vice President , that matter came up, and I told the former President (late Musa Yar’adua) let’s not start something that would make us play into the hands of people and create an anomalous situation in the country.
“The law is clear. A public officer should declare his assets, and if there are issues, then the relevant agencies would have a basis to assess whether you have amassed wealth or not. When it is said that people should declare their assets in public, it is not only the President or the vice President, it includes everybody, incluidng Ministers.
“When I was a governor in Bayelsa state for about a year before becoming vice president, I was investigated thoroughly. I have nothing to hide. But, because I was under somebody and it was becoming an issue, because of the media, and because my boss had declared, it was said that the vice President must. I declared, not because I wanted to.”
Mr. Jonathan continued, “Initially I said they can talk about it from morning to night, I will not. I said it is a matter of principle. It is not proper. If one amends the law to say that only the President and the Vice should declare assets publicly, fine. But, presently everybody who is holding political office is expected to do, and I say it is not right. Those who made the law knew why they put the law that way. I could be investigated when I leave office.
“You don’t need to declare assets publicly, otherwise you are playing to the gallery.You don’t need to publicly declare assets. That’s a matter of principle. If I have to declare publicly, it means every polictical office holder will have to declare publicly. And it is not the right thing to do. That is my believe.
“It is not the President’s declaration of assets that would change the economy. There are challenges secuirty, power and revolutionising agriculture. These are areas we should be interested in . Whether Mr. Jonathan publicly declares his asstes or not is not the issue.
On the controversial trip to Brazil for the Conference on Sustainable development, the President said he had no regret for attending the summit in spite of the instability in the country.
He said he could not afford to boycott the summit because of the country’s internal challenges, as doing do would have sent wrong signals to the international community.
He explained, “I have no regrets travelling to Brazil for the Rio Conference lat week. The issue of Boko Haram is very pathetic. I sympathise with people who have lost relations and property. People feel unsafe, and I feel the pain. As the president, if one person dies, I feel so sad.
“A lot of Nigerians who were worried that I traveled to Brazil did so out of ignorance. One of the tactics of terrorists is to strangle governemnt . If they hear that the President, Vice President or Ministers could not travel because of their activities, they would celebrate.
“The government of Nigeria must not stop for a second because of terror. Let the relevant security agencies ocntinue to do their work and allow governemnt to continue to function. The day government stops functioning, it communicates very serious negative signals to the international community. If governemnt stops to function, we would have played into the hands of the terrorists.
Boko Haram and their sponsors cannot and will never stop thegovernemnt from moving. All the arms of governemnt will continue to keep faith with their national and international engagements . They cannot bring us to our knees. We must continue to fight to bring Boko Haram to an end.”
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/5741-i_wont_declare_my_assets.html

https://www.nairaland.com/2349391/why-buhari-didnt-make-assets

LAGOS—Aides of President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, explained why the president did not declare his assets publicly. They said he will make his assets known to Nigerians within the first 100 days of his stay in power in line with his assertions before the election.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/why-buhari-didnt-make-assets-public-aides/#sthash.V8QiNBFl.dpuf

That is the way I see it, and I don’t give a damn about it, even if you criticise me from heaven.

HungerBAD:
.

Your name should be DOTun.

HungerBAD:
.

jeffizy:

Your name should be DOTun.

TGM2015:


This was in response to barcanista's thread calling for Buhari's head to make his assets declaration public.
https://www.nairaland.com/2357817/meet-only-two-nigeria-leaders

TGM2015:


This was in response to barcanista's thread calling for Buhari's head to make his assets declaration public.
https://www.nairaland.com/2357817/meet-only-two-nigeria-leaders

drtwist:
the case of former president Goodluck jonathan is totally different because he made his intention clear even when he was still under Yaradua who publicly declare His own. but Buhari promise to do so with his minister .
if he cannot keep to his promise then Nigeria has been scam by thiefs and liars
www.naij.com/388617-buhari-promises-to-publicly-declare-assets-if-elected.html

Jonathan publishes assets, worth N295m
From Madu Onuorah, Abuja
The Guardian Online
Thursday, August 9 2007.

VICE President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday succumbed to public demand that he release the details of the assets he declared before the Code of Conduct Bureau. In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, the Vice President put his total assets at N295, 304, 420.

On June 28, 2007, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua published details of his assets, which he put at N856.64 million.

Details of the assets, which Jonathan declared on May 30, 2007 before Justice Muktar N. Dodo of the Abuja High Court, show that the Vice President has no foreign account or assets.

Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President (Media and Communications), Mr. Ima Niboro, who released the details of the assets to journalists at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said in a press statement: "This merely shows that in the affairs of man, there comes a time when even the law must take a second place, and the public mood must define our actions."

Niboro added: "To the Vice President, this is such a time, hence the choice to send you a copy of his declaration for publication. There is nothing to hide, as you can very well see!"

A breakdown of the assets showed that the Vice President's private buildings are worth N67, 990,000. These include a four-bedroom duplex in Kpansia, Yenagoa, valued at N15 million, a four-flat storey extension of the family house in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, valued at N10 million and a four-flat storey building at Otuoke, Ogbia Local Council, which was bombed days before his inauguration as Vice President, valued at N18 million. There is also a five-bedroom personal residence in Gwarinpa, Abuja, worth N24.99 million.

Under the vehicles and household items, Jonathan declared a total assets of N41.8 million. They include a BMW car in Abuja valued at N15 million, generators, electronics, air conditioners, furniture, kitchen utensils and others in Kpansia, Yenagoa, Otuoke, and Gwarimpa costed at N26 million. The BMW was declared as a gift while the other items were said to be gift or procured from savings.

He also declared some vacant and undeveloped plots as worth N60.538 million. They include five undeveloped plots of land in Bayelsa State, two undeveloped plots of land in Cadastral Zone BO2 and AO6 in Abuja .

Jonathan listed N62, 072, 200 million as accruing from income yielding investments. This comprises investments in stocks managed by City-Code Trust and Investment Company Limited. He categorised them as 16 different stocks in Nigerian blue-chip companies.

The Vice President said that he has four 16-seater passengers' boats for hiring by companies and other agencies.

According to him, total cash in Nigerian banks (Bank PHB, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, UBA and others is N58.984 million. He stated that the total income includes personal savings and income from his investments, among them performing stocks and hiring of the boats.

Niboro said that the assets declared did not include those of Jonathan's wife, because "the wife of the Vice President is a public officer, being on the staff of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Education, Yenagoa."

"She could, on her own, being in service, declare her assets through laid-down procedures," he added.

Niboro added that Jonathan's children, being under the mandatory age of 18, do not own assets.

Noting the controversy that Jonathan's reluctance at releasing the assets had caused, Niboro said: "There is no question that the issue of the publication of the Vice President's assets declaration has been the source of vigorous debate in the mass media in the past week or so. There have been strong opinions on both sides of this emerging, if unnecessary, divide."

He added: "His Excellency, the Vice President, is a firm believer in the rule of law, and this has guided his conduct in public office through the years. It is this belief that also guided his position that having fulfilled the requirements of the law by declaring his assets for a total of seven times, there was no point in going further to publish the declaration."

The Vice President's aide regretted that "this position has generated an unfortunate storm, which is not only distractive but also quite unnecessary. We are worried that some newspapers and citizens we hold in high esteem have joined the fray. To the Vice President, this is such a time, hence the choice to send you a copy of his declaration for publication. There is nothing to hide, as you can very well see."

Jonathan's failure to release the details of his assets had generated a storm particularly because President Yar'Adua had set the standard by making his own public.

The public, which had lauded the President's action, had expressed concern that the moral high ground on which the government could proceed with its avowed anti-graft war would be undermined if the Vice President did not follow suit.

The Code of Conduct Act, which prescribes the declaration of assets for public officers, is silent on whether the document should be made public or not, therefore leaving it at the discretion of the affected persons.

Jonathan, had in the defence of his decision not to make the assets public, cited the bombing of his country home in Yenagoa shortly before he took office as a strong disincentive.

He also challenged key officials of the opposition party, the Action Congress (AC), which had been at the forefront of the campaign, to also make public their assets.

Jonathan particularly threw the challenge at the current Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, his predecessor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and AC's national spokesman, Lai Mohammed.

None of them is yet to accede to the request.

nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-11876.html

nigeriapolitical.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/08/femi-aderupat-8.html

dunkem21:
Mumu OP. Buhari promised to declare his assets publicly while GEJ don't want it ..

So, GEJ is not clueless after all ..for opening this thread for him.

“We will stick to the issues by renewing our call on His Excellency, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, to toe the path of
honour by publishing the assets he has now declared seven times in line with the leadership shown by his boss, President Umaru Yar'Adua.
Those at the helm of the nation's affairs owe it a duty to the citizens who supposedly elected them, not only to be transparent, but also to be seen to be so. The leadership of the country has shown the way and it is only honourable not necessarily as a matter of law for members of his team to follow suit. It is therefore imperative, not even mandated by law, for the VP to stop hiding behind one finger and publish his assets declaration immediately”.www.expatnigeria.com/the-fuss-over-vps-asset-declaration/

joseph1832:
Thank you for this. I was just about to open a thread to prove all of them wrong.

What on Earth are you saying?. It is stipulated in the constitution the President and Vice President should declare their asset and you're saying what you said above?.

TGM2015:


This was in response to barcanista's thread calling for Buhari's head to make his assets declaration public.
https://www.nairaland.com/2357817/meet-only-two-nigeria-leaders

barcanista:
Whether Jonathan said it or not is irrelevant. It is on record that onlt Jonathan and Yaradua has history of public Asset declaration.

Where is Buhari's Asset?

barcanista:
Where are the assets as declared by Tambawal and Buhari? Lol... Do you know thw meaning of "Public Asset Declaration"? Can you publish the Asset of Buhari and Tambawal whether they were done "willingly" or "forced"...

By the way, who "forced" VP Jonathan? Anyway show us Buhari and Tambawal asset...

PS: I don't give a damn about anybody's religion or region

“When I was a governor in Bayelsa state for about a year before becoming vice president, I was investigated thoroughly. I have nothing to hide. But, because I was under somebody and it was becoming an issue, because of the media, and because my boss had declared, it was said that the vice President must. I declared, not because I wanted to.”

drtwist:


There is great difference between declaring to the Public and to the CB. BUHARI promise to declare his own publicly THAT IS THE LINK

TGM2015:



What says thou on this your statement

Considering this

joseph1832:
Dude its as if you seriously need comprehension skills. Whether PMB decided to declare to the dead is not the issue. The issue is the constitution says President and Vice President should declare their assets and your so called hero openly flouted the Nigerian constitution.

So between Buhari who declared to the CB according to you and GEJ who said "he doesn't give a damn, who obeyed and adhered to the stipulations of The Nigerian Constitution!.

barcanista:
Guy I don't CARE whether forced or no forced, it is on record that Jonathan declared his Asset PUBLICLY in 2007. He's the only Public officer to do so with exception of Umaru Musa Yar'adua. Where is Buhari Asset? Where is that of Osinbajo?