Breaking: Senator declares assets after Buhari example

A member of the Senate, Shehu Sani, who represents the central Kaduna constituency in northern Nigeria in the Senate, said he was worth 22 million naira and has several houses and cars. Sani on Monday became the first sitting member of the legislature to declare his assets publicly, following President Muhammadu Buhari’s example for greater transparency and accountability in the graft-riddled nation.

Sani, a human rights activist who heads the Civil Rights Congress lobby group, said his decision was prompted by Buhari’s “moral standard” for more openness in public life. In a statement, the lawmaker said greater openness was the only way to improve Nigeria’s reputation at home and abroad, which has long been tainted by corruption.

“The international image of Nigeria as a corrupt country and its political elites as patently corrupt cannot be cleansed unless and until all elected and appointed public office holders come publicly clean as to their quantity and sources of wealth,” he said.

Sani, from Buhari’s governing All Progressives Congress party, was jailed for pro-democracy activities by former military ruler Sani Abacha, who died in 1998, ushering a return to civilian rule the following year.

-Vanguard

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