TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that details of his assets and those of Yemi Osinbajo, his vice, would soon be made public in fulfillment of one of their campaign promises.

He attributed the delay in doing so to the verification by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), expressing optimism that CCB would finish with the process before the expiry of the 100-day deadline within which they said they would do this.

Buhari said he decided to comment on this in order to clarify some suggestions that the assets may not be made public.

“While such public display of concern is appreciated and valued, it must be said that it is a little precipitate,” read a statement issued by Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity.

“As required by law, the declaration and submission of documents to the CCB have been made, but there still remains the aspect of verification, which the Bureau will have to conduct to authenticate the submissions made to it.

“In the circumstances, it is only after this verification exercise, and not before, that the declaration can be said to have been made and validated; and only after this, will the details be released to the public.

“There is no question at all that the president and the vice-president are committed to public declaration of their assets within the 100 days that they pledged during the presidential campaign.

“The president and the vice-president wish to thank Nigerians for their show of concern, and for the confidence they have shown in their leaders’ integrity, as evidenced by the high pedestal of uprightness and expectations on which they have placed them.”

Ever since the media reported the assets declaration, Nigerians have been mounting pressure on both men to publish details of their assets as promised during the electioneering period.