Two months after Governor Seyi Makinde declared his asset, the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has begun confirmation of the N48 billion assets declared by the Governor.
The Director of the bureau in the state, Mr. Bisi Atolagbe, disclosed this at the weekend in an interview with reporters during a meeting of Southwest state directors of the bureau with the member representing the region on the CCB Board of Directors, Prof. Samuel Ogundare, in Ibadan.
Makinde had caused a storm in the media in July when he made details of his declared assets public. While many Nigerians were shocked about the huge amount of his assets, others wondered if the content of the declaration was not anticipatory.
Contacted at the time, Atolagbe revealed that his office had forwarded the asset estimates to the bureau’s headquarters in Abuja, stressing that the Oyo State office was awaiting a directive to start verification of Makinde’s claims.
When asked about the verification, Atolagbe said the exercise had already begun, but added that the process might not be concluded so quickly, given the technical parts of the verification.
The CCB boss said the verification of Makinde’s assets is nothing special because it is part of the routine work undertaken by the bureau.
He said: “Work has started in the verification of the content of declaration submitted by Governor Makinde. At the right time, the report will be available. It is not about noise making, but technically doing the work to ascertain the assets declared. However, I must point out that the process is not a public exercise. The governor has not committed any crime by declaring his assets. It is just to ascertain what he has declared, to check if they are not anticipatory. I can assure you that a thorough job is being done, without being stampeded. We are not in a hurry over it because we are not doing it just to be seen. It will take a while to be completed.”
Giving a report on assets declaration by political office holders and top civil servants in the region, Prof. Ogundare said there has been a near 100 per cent compliance to CCB regulations by current and former public office holders in the Southwest.
He said the newly sworn-in political office holders and those whose tenure ended on May 29 across the region had made their pre-service and post-service asset declarations.
Ogundare said former governors Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo State), Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos State) and Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun State) and their deputies have declared their assets within the stipulated period.
Said he: “Our governors in the Southwest have shown good examples in compliance. They have done what the constitution requires them to do before and after occupying office. Since the governors and their deputies showed good examples, almost all state lawmakers and appointees have also complied.”