Senate President doesn’t know how much he’s worth

Senate President, Bukola Saraki has said that he does not know how much he’s worth.

Saraki made the disclosure during an interview with Naziru Mikaliu of the BBC Hausa service.

Excerpts below:

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Many in this country see a lot of politicians as wealthy individuals, for example, you as an individual; how much are you worth?

I don’t know!

You don’t know how much you are worth? How much did you declare?

I can’t remember these figures

That means it’s a huge figure?

I don’t think it’s a crime anywhere for you to either work hard or be blessed. What I think is important is the commitment to serve.

How did you amass all this wealth?

I come from a blessed family. I come from a family where my parents were opportuned and after that I worked hard in the private sector and I think I have worked hard for everything that I have. I made 95% of my asset before I joined government.

You are currently standing trial before a court accused of falsely declaring an asset?

Yeah, that case is ongoing.

So did you declare anything that was not yours?

As I have said many times on this case, I will prove my innocence. These were forms that were declared over 13 years ago and it only emerged in August after I became Senate President.

If there were infractions in those forms the Code of Conduct could have raised those items a long time ago; they didn’t. So I said I am confident that I will clear my name and I don’t believe that I have done anything wrong.

Saraki also refused to describe Nigeria as corrupt saying that he has a duty to market the country properly and as such cannot describe it as such.