Save Nigeria Group UK (SNG-UK) like all Nigerians and friends of Nigeria became aware that Pastor Tunde Bakare had accepted the Vice Presidential candidacy of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) party alongside General Muhammadu Buhari.
We realise the decision to leave the sidelines and enter active politics must have been taken with a lot of thought and trepidation and we wish Pastor Bakare and Yinka Oduamkin all the best in their current and future endeavours and wish to take this opportunity to thank them for all their hard work and efforts in the long struggle for a greater Nigeria.
We truly hope and believe they will take with them the principles upon which this group was based and hope they will use their new found roles to lead by example and set a standard to which all other aspirants will follow.
For the sake of clarity and public record we will state clearly that the Save Nigeria Group will continue as a non partisan, non regional, non tribal and non religious group working impartially to create the conditions where the Nigeria we all believe in and wish to see can come to be by combating corruption, holding politicians and leaders to account and by educating and mobilising the masses.
SNG UK has no preferred candidate and will not endorse, support or in any way contribute towards or assist the campaign of any party or candidate. In the run up to the elections we will be scrutinising the various parties, candidates and manifesto’s and attempting to lay out positions and conditions which will enable the Nigerian people to make informed choices.
Our initial view concerns the issue of corruption, whereby politicians appear to multiply in wealth the moment they step into office. The Code of Conduct Bureau asset declaration process is meant to address this issue however the fact that these declarations are kept secret and are not subject to detailed scrutiny defeats the purpose of this activity.
With this in mind we wish to invite all aspirants to act in keeping with the spirit of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act 1990 and immediately adopt the following four courses of action.
1. Declare immediately and publicly all their assets, including but not limited to those held by their spouses, children, siblings, parents, relatives or associates in which they have any pecuniary interest.
2. In keeping with the spirit of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act 1990 we would ask all aspirants to also clearly state the sources of their income and make a clear undertaking that if they are found to have lied or in any way falsified or misled the public in their asset declaration they will withdraw their candidacy or in the case of the candidate having achieved office; resign.
3. Any aspirant subject to this exercise who attains public office will guarantee that these assets will be held in trust for them until they leave public office, they will also release annual asset declarations subject to the conditions above.
4. Ensure that all aspirants for public office in their respective parties be it at the state, local government or assembly level follow suit and undertake all the above steps.
We have been assured by the various campaign offices that all the candidates are honest men of probity and integrity thus we see no reason why there will be any difficulty in acceding to our request.
We have sent out communications to the campaign offices of the PDP, CPC, ANPP, NCP, FRESH and SDMP we hope to have received responses by 14th February 2011.
Let those who seek our mandate and trust start this process the way they mean to go on
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria
~Osyman Dias/SNG
Save Nigeria Group (UK)
M: +447765447344 E: [email protected] W: www.savenigeriagroup.co.uk
Founded in 2007, Ladybrille® Magazine is a California based pioneer digital publication demystifying the image of Africans in the west through contemporary African fashion and celebrating the brilliant woman in business and leadership, with an emphasis on the African woman in the diaspora. Our coverage includes stories on capital, access to markets, expertise, hiring and retention, sales, marketing, and promotions.
