Outgoing Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi has been directed by the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, to declare his end of tenure assets with immediate effect.  The order came from the agency’s Director in charge of Ekiti State, Akinfolarin Feyisola, who said that the governor and his deputy must comply with the constitutional provision before their tenure ends.

According to Feyisola, Governor Fayemi must declare his “end of tenure assets” unfailingly before the expiration of his tenure.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN in Ado-Ekiti yesterday that the order also affected the outgoing deputy governor and other political office holders in the state, adding that all the affected state functionaries had been duly informed.

Mr. Feyisola said that it was mandatory for every political office holder in any part of Nigeria to declare his or her assets when coming and leaving office. He threatened that defaulters would be dragged before the Code of Conduct Tribunal for prosecution.

He disclosed that some of the officers had started collecting the assets declaration forms after receiving the reminder of the constitutional provision but lamented that the current closure of courts in Ekiti was stalling the exercise as those who had filled their forms had nowhere to swear affidavit or do other court processes.

He charged those who are yet to collect or complete their assets declaration forms to do so immediately, pending the re-opening of the courts.

Meanwhile, the Delta State Directorate of CCB has threatened to block all politicians who have served in the public service but failed to declare their assets during their tenure and now preparing to contest the October 25 local government elections.

The bureau said it had uncovered 126 of such erring politicians and would do everything within the ambit of the law to stop them at the council polls.

The state CCB Director, Mr. Tony Onyibe, who gave the warning in Asaba, the state capital, said such aspirants would either declare their assets before contesting the election or drop their ambition, declaring that the bureau would use all legal options to have them unseated if elected into office.

Onyibe, who described such politicians as criminals, insisted that the bureau

would not rest until they were made to pay for their actions.

He said: “Assets declaration is a necessary criterion for working for government, whether at the federal, state or local level, public officers must declare their assets before assuming office and at the end of the tenure.

Anybody that does not comply with the requirement having been in office before has breached the law and is a defaulter. Some people throughout their lives did not declare their assets and now they want to contest council election, if they pass through the backdoor and win the election, the Code of Conduct Bureau will pursue their removal from office. So, it will be an error on the part of the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission, DSIEC, to allow these criminals to contest the council election because it will be an exercise in futility. They cannot come into government, we will not allow it.”

Declare Your Assets, Conduct Bureau Orders Gov Fayemi, Deputy