Nigeria's President Buhari lives 'spartan life' with only £98,000 in his bank account

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari revealed he has $150,000 (£98,361) in his bank account and leads a 'spartan life' as he attempted to further promote transparency in a country marred by corruption and graft.

The president disclosed his financial standing to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), one of Nigeria's largest anti-corruption agencies, in a bid to garner support for his anti-corruption campaign aimed at restoring domestic as well as international trust in the West African nation.

Spokesperson Garba Shehu said the president had less than 30m Naira (£98,880) when he was sworn in on 29 May. The amount is much less then the one of vice-president Professor Yemi Osinbajo who, according to the documents submitted, had N94 million, $900,000 and £19,000 in his bank accounts.

"The documents show that the retired General has indeed been living an austere and spartan lifestyle, contrary to what many might expect of a former Head of State of Nigeria and one who has held a number of top government positions, such as governor, Minister of petroleum and the head of the Petroleum Development Trust Fund (PTDF)," Shehu said.

He added that the president has only one bank account as well as shares in Berger Paints -- a paint and allied coating manufacturing company -- Union Bank and Skye Bank.

Shehu also said the former military chief owns five homes and two mud houses in Kaduna Kano, Daura and in the capital Abuja. He also has two undeveloped plots of land, farms, one orchard and one ranch. The president also owns some cars -- although the number is not clear -- some of which were donated to him after after his jeep had been damaged in a Boko Haram bomb attack on his convoy in July 2014.

The documents are to be made available to the public once CCB process is completed, Shehu said.

When Buhari took office in May, he vowed his administration would tackle corruption and recover funds he alleged were stolen by previous administrations. As part of his anti-corruption campaign, the president replaced the whole board of state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), marred by scandals linked to stolen revenues.

In 2013, the head of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was suspended after he claimed $20bn (£13bn) of oil revenue "went missing" from NNPC. Former leader Goodluck Joathan, who suspended Sanusi after the allegation, refused to submit an assets declaration.

Buhari, who alleged that some 250,000 barrels of Nigerian crude oil are stolen every day and sold to other countries, also banned 113 vessels from lifting crude oil from some 27 Nigerian ports amid suspicions the vessels had been implicated in illicit activities. The leader also urged ministers to use bank accounts approved by the governments to make payments.

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