The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) says it cannot disclose the details of President Muhammadu Buhari’s assets.
The bureau said this in response to a freedom of information (FoI) request by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), seeking a disclosure of assets declaration submitted by successive presidents and governors from 1999 till date. The CCB said that the information requested cannot be provided on the grounds of “invasion of privacy’.
In its FoI request, the civil society organization had asked the CCB to provide details of declarations made immediately after taking offices and thereafter, and for those who have left public offices, at the end of their term of office.
In a letter signed by Musa Usman, on behalf of CCB chairman, the bureau said the request “falls short of the requirement of the law”. The bureau said only the national assembly can prescribe conditions for the release of the forms, but such conditions are yet to be prescribed.
In a statement on Tuesday, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP’s deputy director, said the civil society organisation will challenge the decision of the CCB at the court, adding that “declaration forms are public information, and not private information”.
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