By Sufuyan Ojeifo<\/p>\n
By making public the contents of his asset declaration form submitted at
\nthe Oyo State office of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) in Ibadan on
\nMonday, July 15, 2019, Governor Seyi Makinde has, on the double,
\nfulfilled one of his many campaign promises. That action counts for
\nsomething in the overall appreciation of the bigger picture of keeping
\nfidelity to the social contract; and, that perhaps, explains the
\naccolades that have trailed the act.<\/p>\n
The philosophy that roused Makinde\u2019s essential motion in the direction
\nof keeping faith with what appears to be a simple promise must be
\nlargely humanistic much more than teleological.\u00a0 The celebrated act
\nepitomizes genuine altruism, not the humdrum jejune play to the gallery
\nby conventional politicians. Makinde’s genre of politics is peculiar. In
\nany case, time will supply the necessary validations.<\/p>\n
However, I tend to understand the act more in the context of the
\noverarching zeitgeist that has provoked in many Nigerians derision for
\ncorruption in our body-politic.\u00a0 If Makinde\u2019s action was located in
\nthe context of the ideas and spirit of the time, I can then relate to it
\nas his contribution to the emergent culture of pragmatic application of
\nhome-grown praxis to addressing some of the ills, especially corruption
\nand its variants, which plague us as a people.<\/p>\n
What the governor has clearly adopted is a self-sacrificing modus
\noperandi that ordinarily enjoys legal protection. The confidentiality of
\nhis asset declaration is constitutionally-guaranteed. Nevertheless, he
\ndecided, on his own motion, to declassify the details, thus exposing
\nhimself to _pro bono publico_ scrutiny, which many of his colleagues are
\nnot willing to do.<\/p>\n
Although, he has yet to get to the intersection of the second instance
\nwherein he had also hinted that he would be ready to waive his immunity
\nas governor for any alleged criminal infraction that borders on
\ncorruption or looting of the treasury of Oyo state on his watch, I
\nbelieve that with this single-mindedness, the governor will fulfill this
\nother pledge to boot, having kept faith with the first pledge.<\/p>\n
This relatively new attitude to governance – of making promises and
\nfulfilling the same – has the potential to promote the spirit of
\nopenness and accountability that is imperative to feed the anti-graft
\nwar. To be sure, it will help to stimulate self-restraint on the part of
\nMakinde and other public officers, who had earlier subscribed to the
\nidea of making public their assets, whenever they are confronted with
\nthe existential temptation to corruptly enrich themselves through abuse
\nof office.<\/p>\n
I advisedly use the word \u201crelatively\u201d in the paragraph above
\nbecause, at the last count, and I stand to be corrected, not more than
\nsix public officers had published their assets before now.\u00a0 Former
\nPresident Umaru Musa Yar\u2019Adua and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan
\n(who reluctantly followed Yar\u2019Adua\u2019s footsteps in 2007, but refused
\nto do the same in 2011) published their assets in a pragmatic fashion,
\nproviding specific details.\u00a0 The publications by four others, namely
\nformer Governor Gbenga Daniel (in 2007), President Muhammadu Buhari and
\nVice President Osinbajo (who reluctantly followed Buhari\u2019s example in
\n2015; he has yet to follow suit in 2019) and Governor Nasir El-Rufai, of
\ntheir assets were approximate. Specific details of the el-Rufai\u2019s
\nomnibus N90 billion asset worth, in particular, were not stated.<\/p>\n
Indeed, it was the late Yar\u2019Adua that blazed the trail. He had
\npromised during his electioneering that he would make his assets public.
\nHe did so immediately he stepped in the saddle and the declassification
\nof the assets was the first assignment that his spokesperson, Segun
\nAdeniyi, performed a week or two after assumption of duties. The scope
\nof the asset declaration that incorporated even the assets of his wife,
\nTurai, did not give room for any doubt -whether reasonable or otherwise.<\/p>\n
Yar\u2019Adua had shunned the advice by the CCB that the action would put
\nother categories of public office holders under pressure to do the same
\ncontrary to their individual conviction to keep details of their assets
\nconfidential as provided for by law. Yar\u2019Adua was driven by the need
\nto shed the burden of the campaign promise that he made based on the
\nconviction that the war against corruption could not have meaning until
\nthose at the helms of affairs began to live by example.<\/p>\n
It is to Yar\u2019Adua\u2019s eternal credit that he set that critical example
\nfor the like of Buhari and Makinde, et al, to emulate. It was a personal
\nchoice. Makinde has just made that personal choice, without holding
\nback!\u00a0 His N48 billion asset net worth, earned from his chains of elite
\nbusinesses, straddling engineering and technical services, energy, oil
\nand gas, construction, et al, is staggering and intimidating. This war
\nchest imposes a duty of care on him to manage the resources of Oyo state
\nprudently as a going concern. My immediate take-away from the _compte
\nrendu_ is that the governor is financially capacitated to overcome the
\npressure to pillage the commonwealth of Oyo state.<\/p>\n
In the circumstance, he should deploy the Midas touch with which he
\nturned his businesses into huge success stories in stimulating the
\nsleeping economy of Oyo state and transforming it into one of the most
\nstable state economies in Nigeria within the next four years; and, if he
\nperforms creditably, a renewal of mandate by Oyo people will be his just
\nrecompense to enable him consolidate on the good work.<\/p>\n
This is Makinde\u2019s maiden outing in the public service turf. Therefore,
\nthe publication of his assets represents a challenge to the public to
\nput him under constant watch and to raise the alarm if accretion to his
\nassets while in office is traced to abuse of office. He has put himself
\nunder pressure, having come clean as a tabula rasa into government from
\nthe private sector unlike Daniel, Osinbajo and el-Rufai, for examples,
\nwho had been caught up in the intercourse of private and public office
\nengagements.<\/p>\n
Buhari\u2019s case, however, remains peculiar. Although his life and times
\nhave benefited largely from his involvement in public office at
\ndifferent levels, the details of his assets, as declared and made public
\nin 2015 and the ones done in 2019, which his spokesperson, Garba Shehu,
\nsaid witnessed very minimal or insignificant accretions, would appear to
\nfit perfectly into his socially-conservative, financially-prudent and
\ncelebrated Spartan lifestyle.<\/p>\n
Except for his cattle farm and other farms which commercial or
\nincome-generating values have not been declared, Buhari\u2019s sources of
\nincome would appear writ large and he makes no bones about his assets.
\nThe sincerity he had invested in the asset declaration in 2015 continues
\nto bind and regulate him. The benefits derivable from this can be
\nlocated in the credibility and public trust he has built for himself in
\nmatters of financial integrity and restrained material acquisition.<\/p>\n
The culture of making public, asset declaration, is one of anti-graft
\nwar\u2019s veritable enablers. But for Yar\u2019Adua, Buhari and Makinde\u2019s
\nresolve, the argument that asset declaration is a hollow ritual would
\nhave gained a firm foothold in our body-politic. The waiving of
\nconstitutional confidentiality, together with publication of personal
\nassets by them, validates the counter-narrative that the exercise is now
\nbeyond a hollow ritual. Besides, ask former Senate President, Bukola
\nSaraki, and Justice Walter Onnoghen (retd.) and they will concur.<\/p>\n
In rounding off, I commend Makinde, in particular, for keeping to his
\ncampaign promise. He has demonstrated that he can be trusted. What he
\nhas also done is throwing down the gauntlet to all in position of
\nresponsibilities to make full disclosures of assets to their people
\nbefore taking over the management of public finance. Beyond the
\nsuggestion of anticipatory declaration in some oppositional quarters,
\nthis will enable the relevant bodies to investigate claims, validate and
\nmonitor financial transactions in furtherance of trust.<\/p>\n