Buhari gets Asset Declaration Form, orders all outgoing officials to do same

President Muhammadu Buhari says his strict adherence to the constitutional requirement of asset declaration before and after taking office is aimed at strengthening best practices and raising moral standards in the public service.

Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s spokesman, said in a statement on Friday in Abuja that this action would also help to build integrity and combat corruption.

The president, therefore, directed that all outgoing officials, elected and appointed from the Vice President downwards, must collect the asset declaration form, fill it out, and return it as he has done.

Speaking upon collecting his form from Prof. Isah Mohammed, the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau, in Abuja on Friday, Buhari said ”no one is excluded from the constitutional duty of asset declaration.

“I signed, collected, and acknowledged receiving my form. From here, I will ask my bank manager in Kaduna to show me what has gone in and out of my account.

”Nobody is excluded from declaring their assets. I expected everyone from the Vice President downward to follow the system.”

Mohammed said compliance by the President in the last eight years and the support he had given to the Bureau had enabled it to achieve 99 percent compliance by elected and appointed officials.

He also acknowledged the support of the president in the achievement of the digitization of its services and operations, thereby helping the organization to open investigations of cases with greater efficiency.