Kidnappers, Bandits, Terrorists, Yahoo Boys May Occupy Government Offices In Nigeria One Day, Says Coalition

The coalition made this known on Tuesday while addressing the media in Lagos, where it criticised the CCB for always disregarding the Freedom of Information Act sent to it seeking to get the details of assets declared by political officeholders in the country.

The Coalition of Civil Society Organizations for Good Governance has said it will take legal action against the Code of Conduct Bureau in its bid to ensure assets declared by elected officials are made available to Nigerians.

The coalition made this known on Tuesday while addressing the media in Lagos, where it criticised the CCB for always disregarding the Freedom of Information Act sent to it seeking to get the details of assets declared by political officeholders in the country.

The coalition added that it had been discovered that some political officer holders are in the habit of declaring assets they are yet to own before entering office knowing they would have access to the public treasury to enrich themselves while in government.

“Now, our appraisal of the system is that there’s no proper checks and balances to detect at the early stage, and nip in the bud any attempt by public officials to dip their hands in the public coffers.

“We have had bogus asset declarations by some of our governors, ostensibly to cover for the graft that will follow their activities as the state helmsman. They declare assets preemptively and acquire these assets when they enter office.

“You also know how difficult it is to obtain information despite the passage of FIA. Most of the time, we had to depend on inside sources to get information.

“It is an open secret that politicians over time have monetized the political system and unless we do a proper check, we may wake up one day to see kidnappers, bandits, ‘Yahoo-Yahoo Boys’ and Boko Haram leaders occupying our government houses since it’s all about money and nothing else,” the coalition said.

The coalition posited that making assets declaration public will place the country rightly and reduce corruption among public officeholders.

“We will ensure that assets declared by these individuals are made public so that people can know what they are truly worth before going to office and when they are leaving.

“We need to get serious as a country by ensuring that we know what you are worth before coming to office and when leaving,” it added.