Public officials who fail to declare their assets as required by the constitution face removal from office. By law, the President, Vice President, and members of the Federal Executive Council must declare all assets—including money, vehicles, land, bonds, stocks, and other valuables—both when they assume office and when they leave it. Presidential aides, state governors and their cabinet members, National Assembly and State Assembly members, and local government chairmen are also required to submit asset declarations to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) upon leaving office, in accordance with the 1999 Constitution.
Incoming Presidents, Vice Presidents, governors, their cabinet members, and State Assembly members have three months to file their asset forms, which the CCB then verifies. The CCB’s website states that an errant official may be removed from office and may forfeit any undeclared property. It emphasizes that “the responsibility to collect, fill and return the asset declaration form rests solely with the declarant; submission of completed forms through a head of department does not exonerate the declarant from responsibility or liability.” Declarants must provide detailed information on the number, type, address, value, and acquisition date of each property, as well as any income derived from them where appropriate.
After completing the form, the declarant must personally swear to the declaration before the nearest high‑court judge before submitting it to the bureau. Failure to declare assets as required under paragraph 11 of the 5th Schedule of the Federal Constitution can result, upon conviction, in any or all of the following penalties: (a) removal from office, (b) disqualification from holding any public office, and (c) forfeiture to the state of any property acquired through abuse of office or dishonesty.
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