The wife of former
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has revealed how she was able to
accumulate as much as $15million over 15 years in accounts the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has linked to her.
In a suit filed by Union
of Niger Delta Youth Organisation for Equity, Justice and Good
Governance on behalf of Mrs Dame Jonathan with suit number
FHC/L/CS/1349/2016 before a Federal High Court in Lagos, alleging
“campaign of calumny by SERAP against her, the group through the court
papers explained how the former first lady accumulated the said sum.
“The funds in question
were legitimate gifts from her friends and well-wishers over the last 15
years which she had been saving in order to utilize to upgrade family
businesses and concerns which had been somewhat dormant by reason of the
long period of her husband service as a public officer in Nigeria.
“The gifts were given in small contributions by several persons some of
whom she cannot even now recall over this period of 15 years sometimes
in as small a gift as N250,000 Naira. In order to preserve the value of
these funds which she did not require for any purpose at the time she
changed them into foreign exchange and kept them as cash for a long
period in her home safe in Port Harcourt and Abuja.
“It was when the family
home in Otuoke was burnt down by hoodlums under the instigation of
political adversaries in 2010 that she began to think about banking
these gifts which had now grown to large sums in United States Dollars.
In 2010 she therefore summoned one of her husband’s domestic aides,
Waripamo-Owei Emmanuel Dudafa to assist her in opening bank accounts
into which the funds could be deposited.”
“Unknown to her the said
Dudafa in a bid to be discreet about the owner of the funds decided to
bank the funds in the names of companies owned by him. When she
discovered this she was constrained to continue with the names of the
companies when she was advised that it did not make any difference as to
the ownership of the funds since the director of the company would
appoint her as sole signatory to the accounts in question.”
“When in 2016 Dudafa was
arrested and detained she had no fear for the funds as she realized that
the funds could not be attributable to him once it was discovered that
she was the sole signatory to the said accounts. It was therefore a rude
shock to her when she discovered that a no transaction order had been
placed on the accounts by the EFCC in the belief that the funds belonged
to Dudafa. “She instructed her solicitors to further write to the EFCC
to inform them that the funds belong to her and that they formed a part
of her legitimate earnings over the last 15 years.
It was this letter that
was leaked by the EFCC to the media that became sensationalised and led
to the plaintiff’s vilification and attack by ignorant persons who had
no information about the matter.” “SERAP is playing to the public
gallery in order to gain the notoriety it has achieved over the past
years. SERAP has done this mostly by intervening in high profile issues
without regard to the rights of persons it claims to protect. SERAP
jumped into the fray of ignorant accusations being made against Mrs Dame
Patience Jonathan in the public media and has begun a campaign of
calumny against her using online, print and electronic media to publish
to the public unfounded and malicious allegations that she stole the
funds in question and ought to be prosecuted.” The suit accuses SERAP of
using online, print and electronic media to publish to the public
unfounded and malicious allegations that she stole $15m (US) and ought
to be prosecuted.
Earlier, SERAP executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni had
said SERAP will never, in the discharge of its mandates, succumb to any
intimidation, harassment and attacks in any way, shape or form. “We are
now consulting with our lawyers and will be preparing shortly our
defence in court,” he said.
According to Mumuni, “At no time did SERAP suggest or even
hint that Mrs Jonathan was guilty of the allegations against her. On the
contrary, what SERAP has said is that the fact that the $15m found in
the four accounts belong to Mrs Jonathan raises serious suspicion or at
the very least a prima-facie case of unexplained wealth/illicit
enrichment, and imposes an obligation on Mrs Jonathan to explain and
justify the source(s) of the $15m.”
Mumuni also said, “To be sure, SERAP is not engaged in any
campaign against Mrs Jonathan or any other politically exposed persons
for that matter. Our suit was filed against the Attorney General of the
Federation and Minister of Justice Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, and not Mrs
Jonathan. It’s a joke to accuse SERAP of trying to coerce the Attorney
General to perform his constitutional duty, as this is for the court to
decide.”
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