By the standards of sub-Saharan African leaders, Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari is dirt-poor.
According to a statement released by his government, he has $150,000 in his savings account. He owns five homes and two mud houses, an orchard and ranch with 270 head of cattle, 25 sheep, five horses and a variety of birds. He has bought two cars from his savings
"President Buhari had no foreign account, no factory and no enterprises. He also had no registered company and no oil wells," reads the statement released by the spokesman, Garba Shehu, describing the president's assets as "Spartan."
The question on many minds is this: Is Buhari, Nigeria's former military ruler and ex-head of the oil ministry, telling the truth?
Corruption, after all, is a major problem in Africa's largest economy. Buhari himself has publicly said that more than $150 billion is missing from the government's coffers. Still, the public declaration appears to be an attempt to show some much-needed transparency. Buhari was elected in March largely by promising that he wouldn't tolerate corruption.
What's clear is that Buhari has done what his predecessors — and most other African leaders — have never done.
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