{UAH} Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari declares assets-why cant ugandan thieves also declare

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari declares assets

• 4 September 2015
• From the section Africa

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Media caption President Buhari faces a difficult battle to tackle corruption in Nigeria, as Abdullahi Kaura Abubakar reports

Nigeria's leader Muhammadu Buhari has declared he has $150,000 (£100,000) in his personal account, in a move aimed at promoting transparency.

The amount showed the ex-military ruler and minister of petroleum had been living a "Spartan lifestyle", his spokesman Garba Shehu said.

The BBC's Will Ross says the assets are loose change for Nigerian politicians but a fortune for most of the country.

Mr Buhari is the first opposition candidate to win a national election.

The former military ruler was elected in March largely on a promise to tackle corruption and insecurity.

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Corruption is a major problem in Africa's biggest economy and last month, Mr Buhari said that $150bn (£100bn) was missing from state coffers.

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Buhari's assets:

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Mr Buhari marks 100 days in office on Saturday

• Five homes and two mud houses, as well as farms
• An orchard and a ranch with 270 head of cattle,
• 25 sheep, five horses and a variety of birds
• Shares in three firms
• Two undeveloped plots of lands
• Bought two cars from his savings

Full profile: Muhammadu Buhari

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Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, a successful lawyer and pastor at one of Nigeria's biggest churches, is considerably wealthier.

Mr Shehu said in a statement Mr Osinbajo had $1.4m (£900,000) in his bank accounts.

In his declaration of assets, Mr Osinbajo also revealed that he owned a four-bedroom residence, a three-bedroom flat, a two-bedroom flat and a two-bedroom mortgaged property in Bedford, UK.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Mr Osinbajo is a pastor at one of Nigeria's biggest churches

His political career started when he was appointed commissioner of justice in Lagos state in 2007 - a position he held for eight years.

The statement did not give the value of all the assets held by the president and the vice-president, saying the documents submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau would be made public as soon as the verification process was completed.

The leaders are also required by law to declare their assets when they left office.

Late President Umaru Yar'Adua was the first Nigerian leader to declare his assets publicly.

He was reported to be worth $5m (£3.5m) when the declaration was made in 2007.

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Analysis: Will Ross, BBC News, Lagos

We have long been told that Muhammadu Buhari prefers the austere life and now according to his spokesman there is evidence to back this up.

Muhammadu Buhari is no pauper. We are told he has less than $150,000 his bank account - a fortune for the vast majority of the population but probably the equivalent of loose change for many working in the dizzy world of Nigerian politics.

The law requires politicians to declare their assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), which has a pair of handcuffs on its website but has been fairly toothless as the agency which has been "checking corrupt practices in the Nigerian public service since 1989".

The assets do not have to be declared in public but Gen Buhari's team clearly think shining a light on his "Spartan" lifestyle will help in the anti-corruption fight.

His predecessor Goodluck Jonathan was sharply criticized for refusing to go public even though his assets were declared to the CCB.

There may well now be some jittery politicians working out how they will look when compared to a president who has even declared his mud huts and livestock.

Buhari's to-do list

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