A group, Buhari Global Network has said that one campaign promise the president-elect, General Mohammadu Buhari must not fail to fulfil as he prepares for inauguration this month, is to publicly declare his assets.
This, the group said would be the only way Buhari would live up to his campaign promises, adding that it would further give his government some credibility.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Sunday, the National Coordinator of the group, Mr. Aja N. Aja said they must keep a close watch on the government.
“We believe that he will do it. There is no two ways about it. He would do it. Of course, not only him. He should also insist that whoever he is going to work with must declare his assets.
“Let me also make my own personal view. Although it might be academic all this while, declaration of assets has a very good role it plays. Some people over declare in anticipation of what they are going to get. It is not just declaring but to make it public. Let them make what they declare public and we will now by the virtue of Freedom of Information Act, go into investigation.
“If you say you had One Million Naira, what is your tax profile like? First of all, have you been paying your taxes or you just made bogus declaration in anticipation of what you are going to make? And if you under declare, by 4 years time, we will see.
“So, that must be part of this government. They must declare openly. We must know how much you are worth.”
Aja believed that though the group campaigned for Buhari during the elections, it would also not hesitate to criticize him if he deviates from his promises.
He said: “For now, we are partners in progress when they do it right. If they do it wrong, we say no. So, we are going to be a pressure group both for the government and against the government as the occasion may demand.
“Not only the promises – even the virtues that we believe they represent. There are things that they believe: Honesty and sincerity. If by a chance at all, they deviate from it, we will call a press conference like this and we will tell the world, no, no, that is not the way to go. That is what we are going to do from now henceforth.
“So, we are more like self appointed guardians of our collective morality so that if they go outside that narrow compass, we tell them no, this is the way. Otherwise, you lose our support and we will start campaigning against them because also believe that we can do oversight”, he stated
