Chuks Okocha, Tobi Soniyi and Anayo Okoli
More knocks Tuesday trailed last Sunday’s Presidential Media Chat by President Goodluck Jonathan, as the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and a civil society group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), argued that President Jonathan’s insistence on not declaring his assets publicly was only a signpost of his administration’s insincerity to tackle corruption in the country.
While the two groups viewed the president’s position as a violation of laws establishing the office of the President, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), insisted that President Jonathan did not violate any of the party’s law.
Specifically, the ACN in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated that if the programme (Presidential Media Chat) was designed to showcase the President’s grasp of key national issues, last Sunday’s chat only succeeded in achieving the exact opposite.
The party said: “The President, by refusing to publicly declare his assets, and by doing so with a choice of words that portray arrogance and nonchalance given the green light to his cabinet members and other government officials to downplay the fight against corruption and to eschew transparency.
“Yes, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not mandate public officials to make their assets declaration public. But in a country hobbled by corruption and lack of transparency in governance, public declaration of assets is more an issue of morality and leadership than constitutionality or legality.
“Since leadership is the key of achieving success in this epic battle, President Jonathan, by thumbing his nose at his own administration’s much-stated commitment to transparency and anti-corruption has simply decreed an Open Sesame for corruption and opaqueness in government.”
On President Jonathan’s insistence that Boko Haram was a faceless group, the ACN stated: “If this remains the stand of your administration almost three years into the Boko Haram insurgency, then Nigerians are in serious trouble. This stand is as dangerous as it is ill-informed. Such negotiations are done through back-channels, through intermediaries, waiting for the leaders of Boko Haram to come to the table to negotiate with the government is like waiting for God.”
On its part, SERAP stated that it was sending a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to President Jonathan, to provide information on his assets declaration details between May 2007 and May 2012.
In a letter dated June 26 and signed by its Executive Director, Mr. Adetokunbo Mumuni, the group warned that: “Failure to comply with the request within seven days of receipt and/or publication will compel us to seek appropriate legal action to enforce the FOI in your case.”
It said the disclosure of the information requested would give SERAP and the general public a true picture of the assets of the president from May 2007 to May 2012, and would demonstrate the president’s oft-expressed commitment to transparency and accountability.
The group said it was “concerned that your recent statement that you would not publicly declare your asset is a clear violation of the Nigerian Constitution and the UN Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a state party, and entirely inconsistent with your oft-repeated promises to prevent and combat high-level official corruption in the country.”
“We are also concerned that your statement shows your government’s lack of political will to lead by example, and to combat the endemic grand corruption which has continued to have corrosive effects on the human rights, in particular economic and social rights of millions of Nigerians.
“Your statement is also inconsistent with the action of a president who signed into law and is supposedly committed to the effective implementation of the Freedom of Information Act,” the group added.
Meanwhile, the PDP in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, said the manifesto being quoted as part of the party’s manifesto was alien to the party and its members.
According to him, “The reference to the PDP manifesto is baseless, as provisions compelling elected officials to publicly declare their assets are nonexistent in our approved manifesto or in any of the official documents of the party. For the avoidance of doubt, the said document which formed the basis of the report is not an official document of the PDP and cannot therefore be used to mischievously tarnish the well earned reputation of the President of Nigeria.
“In order to set the records straight, we wish to state that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has duly declared his asset in compliance with the provisions of section 140(1) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He has completed the relevant documentations and submitted same to the Code of Conduct Bureau.”
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