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Lawyers tackle Jonathan on public declaration of assets



President Goodluck Jonathan again came under criticisms from lawyers on Sunday following his refusal to declare his assets publicly.

The President had during a Presidential Media Chat last week said he did not “give a damn” about declaring his assets publicly.

He said he only did so when he was Vice-President because the late President Umar Yar’Adua had earlier made his assets declaration public.

However, lawyers, who spoke with one of our correspondents, said Jonathan’s refusal to declare his assets publicly like his predecessor did was capable of sending wrong signal on the sincerity of the President on the anti-corruption war.

The Senior Advocates of Nigeria who faulted the President’s position included Prof. Itse Sagay, Mr. A. B. Mahmod and Mr. Yusuf Ali.
But the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, insisted that Jonathan would be contravening the law by declaring his assets publicly.

While commenting specifically on a media report that claimed that Jonathan’s position was a violation of a recent agreement between Nigeria and the United States, Sagay said an agreement between the two countries was not required before the President does the right thing by making public his assets.

He said, “We don’t even need the US to tell us about that. We are talking of transparency, we are talking of an open society, where leaders lead by example.

“We don’t need the constitution to tell us what is right or wrong. He (Jonathan) might be on legal dry ground but he needs to be transparent to provide the type of example that he wants everybody to follow.
“I am afraid his position is totally unacceptable to most of us.”

Mahmod argued that Jonathan’s action had not helped the call for transparency and accountability on the part of the government.

He said, “The issue is not that he did not declare his assets, it is that he did not want to make it public.
“In an era where we are fighting corruption, I think it would have been appropriate to send the right signals by making his assets public in order to promote openness.”

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4 comments

  1. The simple question is: what has our Mr. Pressy got to hide by not declearing his assets and liabilities? His acting like he has something to hide is dishonourable and gives legitimate grounds for all sorts of justifiable suspicion. He also bring ridicle and oprobium to himself and the exalted office he occupies.

    His predecessor and former boss declared his own assets and liablities to the full glare of the world. It is a shame that Mr. Jonathan has the temerity to say (a) 'I don't give a damn; and (b) that he was forced to declare his assets by his former boss. How can that be? Is that not an honorouble thing to do. What is there to hide?

    Before his advent in politics, Mr. Jonathan was an humble lecturer. I make bold to say that in all his year as a lecturer, his total cash asset will not be more than N5 million, and his non-cash one, not more than N10 million.

    Adding his acquisitions while at OMPADEC to these, I will hazard another N10 million tops. Meaning that Mr. Jonathan's combined assets before his lucky adventure in politics is less than N30 million.

    Nigerians are intelligent and are no fools. We can do the arithmetic.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Declaring assets is not compatible with corruption. Now, you do the maths.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The corrupt man, will never tell you that "I am corrupt.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Is declaring assets not synonymous with integrity?

    ReplyDelete

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