President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima have been asked to make their assets declaration public.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) made the call through its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba on Sunday.
The party said the leaders should declare their assets to the public to lead by example.
The opposition party said the President and the VP to fill asset declaration forms and return same to the Code of Conduct Bureau, just to fulfil the requirements of the law was not good enough.
The PDP urged both leaders to show the world that indeed they are different, by following the path of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua in declaring their financial and asstes before Nigerians publicly.
He said, “They should follow the path of the late President Umaru Yar’ Adua to demonstrate to Nigerians their readiness for transparent and accountable leadership. There are provisions in our laws covering asset declarations by public officers; it is a statutory requirement. Recall that Umaru Yar’Adua, a president elected on the platform of the PDP, declared his assets publicly. Those are the kind of leadership traits expected at that level.”
The PDP statement said Tinubu and Shettima should not have secretly submitted their filled asset declaration forms.
Former Ministerof State for Labour, Festus Keyamo, kickedhas reacted to the PDP’s call saying no law requires what the opposition party was asking for.
Keyamo, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said, “Public declaration of assets is not a legal requirement. The public deserves to know this. It is just a matter of choice. If anyone thinks it is a moral obligation, he can do it. But that is left to individuals.’’
On his part, the Labour Party National Chairman, Julius Abure, said, “Let’s give him some time to declare his assets. That’s my opinion. But the law says he should declare his assets. For me, I think he should do it publicly.
“He is already a wealthy man with all his acquisition after serving as a senator and a two-term governor. Are you even sure he will remember all his assets?” he said.
