The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on presidential candidates, including Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, to publicly declare their assets and liabilities before seeking the mandate of Nigerians.
The organisation said the disclosure would demonstrate the candidates’ commitment to transparency, accountability and responsible leadership, particularly as they sought to occupy the highest elective office in Nigeria.
SERAP made the demand in an open letter to presidential candidates ahead of the 2023 general election, urging them to publish details of their assets and liabilities and publicly commit themselves to rejecting vote-buying and electoral bribery.
The organisation stressed that although there was no constitutional requirement compelling presidential candidates to publicly disclose their wealth before an election, voluntary disclosure would send a powerful message about their commitment to transparency if elected.
According to SERAP, public office should be regarded as a public trust, making it necessary for voters to have sufficient information about candidates seeking their votes.
The group argued that publishing assets before an election would enable Nigerians to assess the financial backgrounds of politicians and provide a useful benchmark for determining whether their wealth increased disproportionately while in public office.
Among those targeted by the call were the major presidential contenders at the time Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party and Obi of the Labour Party. Other presidential candidates were also urged to embrace the same standard.
SERAP further challenged the candidates to reject vote-buying and electoral bribery before and during the elections, describing the practice as a threat to democratic choice and political equality.
The organisation maintained that elections should not become contests in which candidates with greater financial resources could simply purchase political support from economically vulnerable citizens.
It also urged presidential candidates to make commitments on wider issues of governance, including respect for the rule of law, human rights, accountability and openness in the management of public resources.
SERAP said publicly declaring assets would make it easier for Nigerians and civil society organisations to scrutinise public officials and question unexplained increases in wealth.
The campaign also reflected SERAP’s longstanding position that asset declarations submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau should be accessible to the public.
The organisation has previously challenged the CCB over its refusal to disclose asset declarations of presidents and governors, arguing that public interest in such information outweighs claims of privacy for officials entrusted with public resources.
The issue of public asset declaration has remained a recurring subject in Nigerian politics.
In 2015, SERAP similarly urged then-President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo to make their declarations public after they had formally submitted them to the Code of Conduct Bureau.
For SERAP, the principle is straightforward: Nigerians should know what political leaders own before handing them responsibility for managing the country’s resources.
The organisation’s demand therefore placed the spotlight not only on Tinubu, Atiku and Obi, but on the wider culture of political accountability in Nigeria.
As presidential contests become increasingly expensive and politically competitive, SERAP’s position underscores a central democratic question
whether Nigerians should be given greater access to information about the financial interests and wealth of those asking for their votes.
The organisation believes that voluntary public disclosure by presidential candidates would strengthen citizens’ confidence, discourage illicit enrichment and establish a clearer standard of accountability for whoever eventually assumes office.
