Posted by By LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja on
Vice President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday buckled to pressure and made public the assets he declared to the Code of Conduct Bureau on May 30, 2007.
Vice President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday buckled to pressure and made public the assets he declared to the Code of Conduct Bureau on May 30, 2007.
His Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Mr. Ima Niboro, who made the document available to State House correspondents in Abuja, expressed regret that the issue generated unfortunate storm, which, according to him, was an unnecessary distraction.
Coming about five weeks after President Umaru Yar'Adua did same, the revelation showed the vice president as being worth a modest N295, 304,420 with no foreign bank accounts and property outside the country. It was, however, silent on the wife's assets as she is said to be a civil servant.
A major highlight of the assets declaration is the fact that the vice president has just one vehicle, a BMW car, worth N15, 800, 000, said to be a gift and four residential houses located in Abuja (one), Yenagoa (two) and his village Kpansia (which was torched by militants) all of which were said to have been acquired through savings, loans and gifts in kind.
His household items, such as generating sets, air-conditioners, electronics, furniture and kitchen utensils are valued at N26 million, while the value of his vacant and undeveloped plots is put at N60.5 million. The plots, seven in all, are located at Onopa Yenagoa, Otuoke Ogbia and Abuja. The plots were said to have been acquired through allocation by the Bayelsa State government, Federal Ministry of Works and the Federal Capital Development Authority.
Also declared by Jonathan is over two million equity shares in various companies and organisations, including Cadbury Plc, Guinness Nigeria Ltd, Flour Mills, Unilever, Union Bank, Fidelity Bank, UBA, Access Bank, Union Bank, First Bank, Nigerian Breweries, Bank PHB and Oando valued at over N62 million.
His total cash in Nigerian banks, being his personal savings of salaries and allowances from all his investments as declared is N58, 984,123.
Describing the vice president as a firm believer in the rule of law, Niboro said the earlier position on the issue of public declaration of his assets was guided by the fact that he (Jonathan) had had to declare his assets seven times.
He said: "There is no question that the issue of the publication of the vice president's assets declaration has been the source of vigorous debate in the mass media in the past week or so. There have been strong opinions on both sides of this emerging, if unnecessary, divide.
"The vice president is a firm believer in the rule of law and this has guided his conduct in public office through the years. It is this belief that also guided his position that having fulfilled the requirements of the law, by declaring his assets for a total of seven times, there was no point in going further to publish the declaration.
"This position has generated an unfortunate storm, which is not only distractive but also quite unnecessary. We are worried that some newspapers and citizens we hold in high esteem have joined the fray.
"This merely shows that in the affairs of man, there comes a time when even the law must take a second place, and the public mood must define our actions. To the vice president, this is such a time, hence the choice to send you a copy of his declaration for publication. There is nothing to hide, as you can very well see."