The governor, who visited the Oyo state office of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) in Ibadan, the state capital, to receive a copy of the asset declaration form said that his decision to make the assets public was in fulfillment of a personal promise he made during the elections.

Details of the assets as contained in the CCB 1 with the name Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde, which was declared at the High Court of Oyo State, on May 28, 2019, revealed that the governor is worth over N48 billion.

The assets declaration form, marked OYSE/2019/001 contained details of cash at hand, in the bank, landed properties (developed and undeveloped), household items, share and bonds owed by the governor, his wife, Omini Makinde as well as his companies.

According to details of the asset form made public by the Chief Press Secretary to Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, the Governor of Oyo State had cash at hand and in the bank worth N234, 742,296.01, as at May 28, 2019.

In dollar terms, the governor has cash valued at $30,056.99 as at the same date.

Properties, including the developed and undeveloped as well as household items indicated on the asset forms, showed that the governor is worth N2, 624,800,500 (two billion, six hundred and twenty-four million, eight hundred thousand, five hundred  Naira as at the date of asset declaration.

In Dollar terms, the governor also declared properties, developed and undeveloped as well as household items valued at $4,400,000 (four million, four hundred thousand dollars only.

In South African Rands, the governor declared buildings and household items worth four Million, four hundred and fifty-seven thousand, five hundred and fifty-four and four South African Rands.

The houses declared by  Governor Makinde include nine buildings in Nigeria, two in the United States of America and One in South Africa.

One of the properties in the United States is described as “jointly owned.”

The details showed the current value of Makinde’s companies stand at N48, 150,736,889 (forty-eight billion, one hundred and fifty million, seven hundred and thirty-six thousand, eight hundred and eighty-nine Naira), with 33, 730,000 units of shares as at May 28, 2019.
The Governor also has existing Bonds (Eurobond) worth $3, 793, 500 as well as shares, debentures and other securities valued at N120,500,000(One hundred and twenty million, five hundred thousand naira).

The companies listed by the governor include Makon Engineering and Technical Services Limited; Energy Traders and Technical Services Limited; Makon Oil and Gas Limited; Makon Group Limited, Makon Construction Limited and Makon Power System Limited.

The asset declaration form indicated that Governor Makinde’s four companies have additional assets denominated as loan notes including Makon Engineering and Technical Services Limited(N1.7 billion); Makon Power System Limited(N148.4 million); Makon Oil and Gas Limited(N341 million); Energy Traders and Technical Services Limited(N1.159bn) totalling N3.389 billion.

Speaking with newsmen at the CCB office in Ibadan, Makinde said:  “I came here to collect the photocopy of the form that I signed in fulfillment of the campaign promise to the people that I will declare my asset publicly and release the document to the public.

“I will encourage all the members of my cabinet to do the same thing but in as much they stay within the ambit of the law, I will encourage them to do the same.”

The post Oyo: Makinde makes details of assets declaration public, companies worth over N48 billion first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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In a statement issued on Sunday, SERAP said it was suing the CCB over its claim that it could not disclose details of asset declarations submitted to it by successive presidents and state governors since 1999 because doing so “would offend the right to privacy of presidents and state governors.”

The human rights group, in the statement indicated that the  CCB had last week refused a Freedom of Information request by SERAP, stating that: “Asset declaration form is private information.”

However,  in the suit number FHC/L/CS/1019/2019 filed last Friday, SERAP argued: “Asset declarations of presidents and state governors submitted to the CCB are public documents. Public interest in disclosure of the details of asset declarations sought by SERAP clearly outweighs any claim of protection of the privacy of presidents and state governors, as they are public officers entrusted with the duty to manage public funds, among other public functions.”

According to the group, “A necessary implication of the rule of law is that a public institution like the CCB can only act in accordance with the law, as to do otherwise may enthrone arbitrariness. The CCB does not have reasonable grounds on which to deny SERAP’s FOI request, as it is in the interest of justice, the Nigerian public, transparency and accountability to publish details of asset declarations by presidents and state governors since the return of democracy in 1999.”

SERAP also argued that: “Disclosing details of asset declarations of public officers such as presidents and state governors would improve public trust in the ability of the CCB to effectively discharge its mandate. This would, in turn, put pressure on public officers like presidents and state governors to make voluntary public declaration of their assets.”

The suit filed by SERAP’s counsel, Adelanke Aremo, read in part: “The right to receive information without any interference or distortion should be based on the principle of maximum disclosure, and a presumption that all information is accessible subject only to a narrow system of exceptions. It is a settled principle of law that details such as asset declarations of presidents and governors should be disclosed if there is an overriding public interest in having access to such information, which is clearly so in this matter.

“Democracy cannot flourish if governments operate in secrecy, no matter how much open discussion and debate is allowed. The very nature and quality of public discussion would be significantly impoverished without the nourishment of information from public authorities such as the CCB, and to guarantee freedom of expression without including the right to know would be a formal exercise.”

SERAP is, therefore, seeking the following reliefs:

An order granting leave to the Applicant to apply for judicial review and to seek an order of mandamus directing and compelling the Respondent to compile and make available to the Applicant information on specific details of asset declarations submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau by successive Presidents, Vice Presidents, Senate Presidents, Speakers of House of Representatives, State Governors and Deputy Governors from 1999 to 2019 and to publish widely including on a dedicated website, any such information.

An Order granting leave to the Applicant to apply for judicial review and to seek an order of mandamus directing and compelling the Respondent to compile and make available to the Applicant information on the number of asset declarations so far verified by the Code of Conduct Bureau and the number of those declarations found to be false and deemed to be in breach of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers by the Bureau and to publish widely including on a dedicated website, any such information.

An order granting leave to the Applicant to apply for Judicial Review and to seek an order of mandamus directing and compelling the Respondent to immediately take cases of false asset declarations to the Code of Conduct Tribunal for effective prosecution of suspects, and include banning the politicians involved from holding public offices for at least a period of 10 years and seeking refund of stolen public funds as part of the reliefs to be sought before the Tribunal and for further order or orders as this Court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

Source: Channels TV

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