Buhari’s Ministers Must Declare Their Assets Publicly – Kukah

The Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Sokoto,

Matthew Kukah, says there is a need for

President Muhammadu Buhari’s

ministers to publicly declare their

assets just as Buhari did last month.

Kukah, who is also a member of the

National Peace Committee, said this at an

annual programme titled, “The Platform,”

which was organised by the Covenant

Christian Centre in Lagos, on Thursday.

He said, “Buhari has an opportunity now.

I don’t think many of you have been to

Buhari’s house in Kaduna but I have

been there and I know what it looks like.

You heard about his declaration of assets.

He must, therefore, make minimum

demands of moral conduct and probity

from his ministers. As Nigerians, we

must ask ourselves what drives

corruption.

“Corrupt people are not necessarily bad

people. A lot of them are not bad people

because they do a lot of good things. But

we live in a country where too many

good people are doing too many bad

things.”

The cleric said Buhari must set standards

for his ministers on the kind of lifestyles

they and their families must live.

He said for instance, it would be good if

the President demands that all the

children of his ministers must school in

Nigeria.

Kukah added, “For me, if you are a

minister of the Federal Republic of

Nigeria, your children must have their

education in Nigeria. That will be good.”

While delivering his lecture titled,

“Hysteria, euphoria and amnesia:

Nigeria’s long walk to freedom,” Kukah

said Nigeria had failed to develop

because the country had continued to

make the same mistakes.

Defending his stance that ruling Nigeria

should not be only about jailing corrupt

people, Kukah said all coups including

the first one of 1966 were perpetrated

under the pretext of fighting corruption.

He, therefore, argued that restructuring

the system and plugging all loopholes

remains the best way to fight corruption.

He said, “If you take the worst Nigerian

President and Americans are patient

enough to vote for him and he rules

America for 20 years, he will not be able

to steal up to $50,000 no matter how long

he rules because of the kind of system

that operates there.

“But if you take a British Prime Minister

or American President and make him the

President of Nigeria, the moment he

wants to set up an anti-corruption agency,

he will have to bribe the National

Assembly.”

Kukah said the proliferation of churches

or mosques in a country did not

necessary imply that the nation would

have a high moral standard or

development. He said unlike Nigerian

leaders, former South African President,

Nelson Mandela, was never seen in a

church.

While comparing former President

Olusegun Obasanjo with Mandela, Kukah

said the circumstances in the nation

prevented Obasanjo from being like

Mandela.

He said, “Both of them went to prison

and became Presidents when they were

released but we know that if Mandela

had gone to a Nigerian prison, he would

have died there.

“When Mandela came out of prison, there

was a structure in place. His party had

been in existence since 1912. It had a

doctrine, discipline. When Mandela came

out of prison on February 11, 1990 and

when he was approached, he said he

would have to consult with Oliver

Thambo. Mandela was already a party

man.

“Compare this with President Obasanjo

who came into power through the PDP.

Look at the circumstances of the

formation of the party. Mandela was also

fortunate to inherit an economic and

bureaucratic system that had been in

place for long. Obasanjo inherited a

system that was severely weakened.”

Source:- Punch