The Peoples Democratic Party has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and his deputy, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to release copies of their assets declaration forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau.
It describes as “a deceptive window-dressing to hoodwink unsuspecting Nigerians” the release, by an aide of the President, “of a mere list of some belongings of President Buhari and Osinbajo, in place of the pledge made to Nigerians by the President as candidate of the All Progressives Congress.”
It said Buhari made the pledge on March 18, 2015, at exactly 5 pm.
The party recalled that the President, in his own words, had stated to Nigerians that, “I pledge to publicly declare my assets and liability and also encourage my political appointees to publicly declare their assets and liability.”
The PDP however said it had observed that President Buhari and his deputy failed to produce copies of their declarations, detailing the exact nature and value of respective assets.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in a statement in Abuja on Friday, said “the release of a mere list of belongings falls short of credibility, transparency and anti-corruption standards as well as exposes the proclivity of the present administration for deception.”
“We have noted the release of a flimsy list of belongings of President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo by the Presidency, who want such to pass as the public declaration of assets as pledged by the President. Nigerians are not deceived by this poor attempt at window-dressing designed by the Presidency to hoodwink the unsuspecting populace in a desperate bid to shore up its diminished image.
“We ask, is the resort to a mere list, instead of true copies of the declaration, not a ploy to give the Presidency a window for denial in consonance with their widely observed inclination for flip-flopping, back tracking and brazen denials of their statements and actions?”
The statement also said, “All we want is credibility, integrity and sincerity of purpose. We are not questioning how a President, who by December last year, declared that he had only N1 million in his account, could suddenly now list N30 million in the same bank account by May 29, and after an expensive campaign; we are not yet demanding the public declaration of his assets in his wife’s name.
“We are not even applauding the multiplication of his cows from 150 to 250 in a space of three months, arising from his dual and conflicting pronouncements on this issue.”
He said what the PDP and discerning Nigerians were demanding was for the President to always stand by his words and pledge.
“Mr. President, this is a mere list of your belongings and not a public declaration of assets in fulfillment of your covenant with Nigerians,” Metuh added.
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