THE 'SPARTAN' LIFESTYLE OF NIGERIA'S NEW LEADER

Marking 100 days in office, Buhari
publishes assets: no foreign
accounts, only five houses, cattle,
shares
Nigerian President Muhammadu
Buhari, who won office pledging to
fight the country's outrageous graft
habit, claims to have no foreign
accounts or oil concessions and only
$151,000 at a local bank.
The 72-year-old military man who
campaigned pledging to recover
"mind-boggling" sums of stolen oil
money enjoys "a spartan lifestyle", his
spokesman said in a statement listing
his assets.
Buhari, who took office May 29,
marked 100 days in office on Saturday,
and Nigerian law stipulates that the
president and his deputy declare their
assets.
Though a former military head of
state, an ex-military governor and ex-
oil minister -- meaning he had ample
opportunity to amass a fortune --
Buhari had less than 30 million naira
($151,000) in his sole bank account as
of May 29, spokesman Garba Shehu
said in the statement.
At the same date he had shares in
three firms, a paint manufacturing
company and two commercial banks,
and five houses in Abuja and the
northern cities of Kano, Kaduna and
Daura, his hometown, the statement
said.
He had farms, an orchard, a ranch,
scores of cattle, 25 sheep and "a
number of cars", some of which were
gifts, it added.
Documents submitted by Buhari "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,"
Shehu said.
Buhari has made transparency and the
fight against corruption cardinal
policies of his administration.
In particular he came out against oil
sector fraud and the non-payment of
federal revenues into government
coffers since 2011, though the country
is Africa's top oil producer.
Showing from the start he was serious
about ending graft, he sacked the
entire board of state oil company
NNPC, notorious for mismanagement
and rampant theft, and installed a
Harvard-educated lawyer to
spearhead reforms as new managing
director.
The financial dealings of some
officials who served under Buhari's
predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan, are
being investigated.