Assets’ declaration by public servants in Nigeria is at best a ruse. There is seldom information on the sources of funds that support assets’ acquisition including income and liabilities.
A distinction should always be made between productive (earning) and non-productive (non-earning) assets. Productive assets for example, have the ability to generate taxable income because of asset utilization. Taxes paid should also be disclosed, certified, and verified as a matter of public interest and record.
The assumption must be that there are reasons for requiring some public servants to declare their assets. If this is true, what has anyone ever done with them? Have there been instances of inaccurate or false declarations? What have been/are the consequences of inaccurate and false declarations.
Is one to understand that assets declaration as it is practiced in Nigeria, pays lip service to some expectation and is consequently a meaningless and useless exercise.
oa
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Mobolaji ALUKO
Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2011 3:19 PM
To: USAAfrica Dialogue; NaijaPolitics e-Group; OmoOdua; ekiti ekitigroups; nigerianid@yahoogroups.com; naijaintellects
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - STAR INFORMATION: Declared ASSETS of Forrmer EFCC Chairman Nuhu Ribadu
______________________________________________________________________________
STAR INFORMATION: Declared ASSETS of Forrmer EFCC Chairman Nuhu Ribadu
As deposed before Code of Conduct Tribunal led by Justice Constance Momoh in December 2009
| S/N | ASSET ITEM | Money Value (with some description) | |
| | | March 2002 (before EFCC Chairmanship) | November 2008 (after EFCC Chairmanship) |
| 1 | Summary of Cash in Local And Foreign Banks | N1,600,000.00 BP200 | US$8,064 |
| 2 | Summary of Buildings/Undeveloped Property | N4,500,000.00 N10,000,000 House in Yola Land in Abuja | N5,000,000 N2,000,000 House in Yola Land in Katampe |
| 3 | Summary of Farms/Orchards/Ranches, etc. | N7,500,000 187 Cows | N5,000,000 120 cows |
| 4 | Summary of Vehicles, Boats & Other means Of Transport | N2,000,000 N2,300,000 Honda Accord Honda CRV | N2,300,000.00 Honda Accord |
| 5 | Summary of Factories & Other Enterprises | Nil | Nil |
| 6 | Summary of Household Items | Nil | N200,000.00 Home furniture |
| 7 | Summary of Govt. Securities including Premium Bonds and Savings Certificates | Nil | Nil |
| 8 | Summary of Investments in and Outside Nigeria (Shares, Debentures & Other Securities) | Nil | Nil |
| | TOTALS (See Note 2 below) | N 24,900,000.00 US$ 0.00 BP 200.00 | N 14,500,000.00 US$8,064.00 BP0.00 |
ALUKO NOTES
1. For Details: below article in NEXT, December 29, 2010, from where the above table was adapted
2. Note that this is just a listing of ASSETS; does not include LIABILITIES (debts to banks, etc,), so this cannot by any means represent Ribadu’s NET WORTH!
http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5658924-146/ribadu_worth_n26_million_at_end.csp
NEXT
Ribadu worth N26 million at end of EFCC tenure
| By Emmanuel Ogala and Festus Owete December 29, 2010 10:49AM | |
Nuhu Ribadu, a presidential aspirant under the Action Congress of Nigeria, was worth about N26.59 million in assets and cash while leaving office as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2007, details of asset declaration documents exclusively obtained by NEXT have revealed.
According to the end of tenure asset declaration document which was declared before Abubakar S. Umar, a Justice of the High Court of Justice in Abuja on 26 November, 2008, Mr. Ribadu lost N1.357 million worth of assets during his five-year tenure as chairman of EFCC.
The documents, which were admitted by a three-man panel of the Code of Conduct Tribunal led by Justice Constance Momoh in December 2009, show that Mr. Ribadu was worth N27.94 million by March 2002, before he became the EFCC chairman.
For public scrutiny
Details of the document show that before Mr. Ribadu became the EFCC chair, he had 187 cows valued at N7.5 million, a residential quarters in Yola worth N4.5 million, and a N10 million land in Abuja. He also had a Honda Accord car valued at N2 million, a Honda CRV valued at N2.3 million and N1.6 million and £200 cash in two local banks and a London bank respectively.
The end of tenure asset declaration by Mr. Ribadu shows that while he was leaving EFCC in 2008, he had $8,064 in two local banks, sourced from his allowances, a plot of land at Katampe Hills in Abuja valued at N2 million, a residential quarters in Yola valued at N5 million, and a N200,000 home furniture. He also had a N2.3 million Honda Accord car bought in 2006.
He, however, lost 67 cows and was left with 120 cows valued at N5 million.
Mr. Ribadu, who was finally relieved of his duty as chairman of EFCC, was prosecuted half way by the late Umaru Musa Yar'Adua-led government at the Code of Conduct Tribunal over allegations that he did not declare his assets before taking up the EFCC job.
In late 2008, he went on a self-imposed exile after alleging threats to his life, but the case against him was dropped at the Code of Conduct Tribunal by the federal government after the death of Mr. Yar'Adua and the subsequent removal of Michael Aondoakaa as the attorney general of the federation and minister of justice.
Adetokunbo Kayode, who took over the Justice ministry from Mr. Aaondoaka, had before the dissolution of the cabinet by President Goodluck Jonathan, reviewed the case against Mr. Ribadu and directed that the case should be withdrawn. He later filed a Nolle Prosequi to discontinue the case.
A case of vendetta
Mr. Ribadu, who confirmed the validity of the documents, described the case the government had against him as vendetta by the Yar'Adua administration, which was filled with men he had put up for prosecution while he was in office as EFCC chairman.
He said that although the Goodluck Jonathan's administration withdrew the case and made it easy for him to return to the country, he would have preferred a logical conclusion of the case.
"My lawyers already filed that the case be struck out following the admission of my 2002 asset declaration forms by the Justice Constance Momoh-led panel in December 2009," he said.
The return of Mr. Ribadu and others who went into exile was one of the achievements listed by President Jonathan as one of the tangible achievements of his administration.
On his Facebook page on Christmas Eve the president wrote:
"Last Christmas, several exiles such as Nuhu Ribadu and Nasir El-Rufai, etc., spent Christmas away from their friends and families. But this Christmas, they have the liberty to be with their friends and families in Nigeria. Plus, there are NO Nigerian political exiles outside Nigeria this Christmas."
Read full interview with Mr. Ribadu on NEXT on Sunday.
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