Buhari’s declared assets less than N30 million at the time of inauguration – Presidency

The Presidency has said President Muhammadu Buhari ‎as at May 29th when he was sworn-in had less than N30 million to his name, had no foreign account, no registered company and no oil wells.

It also said Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, a successful lawyer before his foray into politics, had a bank balance of about N94 million and $900,000 in his bank accounts.

The Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a statement quoted documents submitted by President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

According to Shehu, the documents show that Buhari, a retired General, “has indeed been living an austere and Spartan lifestyle, contrary to what many might expect of a former Head of State of Nigeria and one who has held a number of top government positions, such as governor, Minister of petroleum and the head of the Petroleum Development Trust Fund (PTDF)”.

The Presidential Media aide said the documents which CCB officials say were still being vetted and to be made public soon, “show that prior to being sworn in on May 29, President Buhari had less than N30 million to his name. He also had only one bank account, with the Union Bank. President Buhari had no foreign account, no factory and no enterprises. He also had no registered company and no oil wells.”

Shehu said Buhari has declared that he had shares in Berger Paints, Union Bank and Skye Bank.

The documents also revealed that President Buhari had a total of five homes, and two mud houses in Daura, two homes in Kaduna, one each in Kano, Daura and in Abuja. “One of the mud houses in Daura was inherited from his late older sister, another from his late father. He borrowed money from the old Barclays Bank to build two of his homes,” Shehu quoted the document.

President Buhari is also said to own two undeveloped plots of land, one in Kano and the other in Port Harcourt. “He is still trying to trace the location of the Port Harcourt land,” his media aide said.

“In addition to the homes in Daura, he has farms, an orchard and a ranch. The total number of his holdings in the farm include 270 heads of cattle, 25 sheep, five horses, a variety of birds and a number of trees.

“The documents also showed that the retired General uses a number of cars, two of which he bought from his savings and the others supplied to him by the federal government in his capacity as former Head of State. The rest were donated to him by well-wishers after his jeep was damaged in a Boko Haram bomb attack on his convoy in July 2014″.

Osinbajo’s asset declaration include his 4-bedroom residence at Victoria Garden City, Lagos, and a 3-bedroom flat at 2 Mosley Road, Ikoyi. The Vice President also has a 2-bedroom flat at the popular Redemption Camp along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, and a 2-bedroom mortgaged property in Bedford, England. Aside from these, the Vice President has no other landed properties on the form.

Apart from his law firm, known as SimmonsCooper, the Vice-President also declared shareholding in six private companies based in Lagos, including Octogenerium Ltd., Windsor Grant Ltd., Tarapolsa, Vistorion Ltd., Aviva Ltd. and MTN Nigeria.

According to details shown on the form, the Vice-President has about 94 million Naira, 900,000 US Dollars and 19,000 Pound Sterlings in Nigerian banks, with the foreign currencies kept in local domiciliary accounts. His personal vehicles are one Infinity 4-Wheel Drive SUV, one Mercedes Benz and a Prado Jeep.

“As soon as the CCB is through with the process, the documents will be released to the Nigerian public and people can see for themselves,” it was stated in the statement.

(Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, DAILY SUN)