I have declared my assets four times since 1974~Buhari to Critics

Firstclass newsline gathered that president Muhammadu Buhari on Monday
told journalists in Accra, Ghana, that he had declared his assets four
times since 1975 and challenged the newsmen to investigate the details
of his possession.
Buhari asked journalists to use the required law to dig up the records
of his four separate asset declarations.
He said, "I recall that in 1975 when late Murtala Mohammed became the
Head of State, we were lined up in the corridor – governors,
ministers, members of the Supreme Military Council – and officials of
the Ministry of Justice were brought and every individual was made to
declare his assets.
"So right now, all heads of state and government, governors,
ministers, permanent secretaries will have to declare their assets
because it is a constitutional requirement."
The President said it was a constitutional requirement that public
officers declare their assets.
He said, "In Nigeria, it is a constitutional issue and that is why I
am blaming you gentlemen of the press. If you really want to do
investigative journalism, you don't have to worry me at this stage; I
have declared my assets four times.
"When I was governor in 1975, I declared. After being Minister of
Petroleum and as a member of Supreme Military Council, I declared.
When I was Head of State and now as a President, I also declared.
"I have declared my assets and all that I have four times, and you
(the media) have the right to go and demand for my declaration.
Instead, I am being harassed."
Also at a joint press conference with the Ghanian President John
Mahama in Accra, Buhari said that he would name his cabinet before the
end of this month.
The Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity,
Mr. Femi Adesina, in a statement, quoted his principal as saying,
"After I was sworn-in, I said I will have my cabinet in September. I
expect that Nigerians should ask me questions after the 30th of
September if I do not do so,"
The President was responding to a question on the appointment of ministers.
He spoke amid concern that he might not name his cabinet this month
because the National Assembly would resume from its recess at the end
of the month.
The President also said that the Nigerian military, in collaboration
with the Multi-National Joint Task Force, had recorded remarkable
progress in the fight against Boko Haram since he assumed office.
He stated, "The first thing I did after I came into office was to
reorganise the military and clear orders were given to them in terms
of retraining, re-equipping and redeployment of troops.
"In the North-East, the military is gaining ground and Boko Haram has
been limited to the Sambisa Forest.
"Internally Displaced Persons are gradually moving back home and they
are being reintegrated into their respective communities."
Mahama had said both leaders had fruitful discussions on how to
enhance bilateral relations and improve regional security.
He said that Nigeria and Ghana would soon begin the process of
reviving their joint commission for cooperation.
The Ghanaian President added that both leaders also agreed to
encourage closer cooperation between the intelligence and anti-graft
agencies of both countries.
He thanked President Buhari for his visit and assured him of Ghana's
support and cooperation with Nigeria in the fight against terrorism.
In a separate interview with the editor, BBC Hausa, Mansur Liman,
Buhari said culprits in the theft of the country's crude oil in the
last few years would be named and prosecuted soon.
The President said top management personnel of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation could not feign ignorance of the goings-on in
the corporation in the last 10 years.
Buhari, who spoke in an interview with the editor, BBC Hausa, Mansur
Liman, said, "I am very pleased with the reorganisation, we are
getting a lot of results, which we hope in a couple of months' time we
can make clear disclosures and start to prosecute those that had been
stealing the crude.
"Those who have been in charge of NNPC at top level can't claim
ignorance of what has been happening in the last 10 years. And the
companies include the shipping companies, which allowed themselves to
be used to lift illegal crude from Nigeria or to change at high sea or
head to a different destination."
There had been allegations that the NNPC failed to remit N3.8tn to the
Federation Account and allegedly stole 250,000 barrels of crude oil
per day under the previous administration.
The NNPC, under the new Group Managing Director, Ibe Kachikwu, had
last month announced the cancellation of the contract for the delivery
of crude oil to the nation's refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt and
Kaduna.
The government's oil corporation also announced the termination of the
Offshore Processing Agreements entered into in January, 2015, with
three companiesp: Duke Oil Company Inc., Aiteo Energy Resources
Limited and Sahara Energy Resources Limited.
Under the terminated agreement, NNPC was allocating a total of 210,000
barrels of crude oil per day for refining at offshore locations in
exchange for petroleum products at pre-agreed yield pattern.
According to the corporation, the decision to cancel the oil delivery
contracts to refineries was taken after proper evaluation of the
contract terms.
On the OPA arrangement, the firm said the current agreement was not in
the interest of Nigeria and the national oil firm, a development that
led to its cancellation.
The NNPC also observed that the structure of the agreement did not
guarantee unimpeded supply of petroleum products as delivery terms
were not optimal.
To address these lapses, the NNPC informed that it had commenced the
process of establishing alternative OPA based on optimum yield pattern
with tender processing fees.
Firstclassnewsline.net