Former First Lady Patience Jonathan has admitted that she is the
owner and signatory to the five accounts in which the Economic and
Financial Crimes (EFCC) found over $22.3million. According to her, the accounts were opened for her medical treatments.
Mrs. Jonathan revealed that she has never received any money from
any unknown sources into the five accounts, although she refused to
explain how she got the money found in her accounts.
According to a report by The Nation, Mrs. Jonathan has denied
opening the accounts in the names of cooks, drivers and artisans. Mr.
Wampemo-Owei Dudafa, the Special Adviser on Domestic Affairs to former
President Goodluck Jonathan, and Skye Bank officials for registering
phony companies for four of the five accounts.
In a statement by Yemi Akinbode, Mrs Jonathan picked holes in the
authenticity of the representatives of the four companies who pleaded
guilty to charges of money laundering.
He quoted her lawyer, Gboyega Oyewole, as saying she would appeal
the validity of the representatives of Pluto Property and Investment
Company Limited, Seagate Property Development and Investment Company
Limited, Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited and Avalon
Global Property Development Company Limited.
The former First Lady’s counsel alleged that the prosecution
presented four unknown people as the companies’ representatives, all of
whom he said did not show letters authorising them by their respective
boards to represent them in the case.
“This is a clear evidence of the desperation of the prosecution
to pull down the former First Lady and confiscate her hard-earned
money,” the statement quoted Oyewole as saying.
The ex-First Lady, in another statement by Media Assistant Chima
Osuji, said although the accounts were opened in 2013, she started
operating them in 2014.
The statement said: “Sometime in 2013, following the advice of
top officials of the EFCC then in the company of Hon. Wampemo-Owei
Dudafa who was the Special Adviser on Domestic Affairs to the former
President Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, that she should not travel
oversees with cash, otherwise she may contravene Money Laundering laws,
Mrs Patience Jonathan agreed to open accounts with Skye Bank Plc and
directed Hon. Dudafa to see to it.
“Hon Dudafa came with two bank managers (officials) of Skye Bank Plc with the account opening forms which she duly signed.
“These accounts were all dollar based Platinum Visa cards in respect of five accounts.
“When the bank officials brought the ATM cards for the said
accounts of which she is sole signatory, she discovered to her surprise
that only one of these accounts bore her personal name while four were
in the names of companies not known to her.
“She immediately complained about this anomaly to Hon. Dudafa
and the bank officials, Demola Doledeoku and Dipo Oshodi, came back to
the Villa with forms to change and convert the said accounts to the
personal name of Mrs Jonathan.
“This was her firm request which the bank officials promised to
effect immediately and she duly completed account conversion forms and
signed the mandate forms as a the sole signatory, but as it would
appear, the said bank officials did not change the Account names despite
her request.
“It was in 2014 or thereabout that she was given the ATM cards
for all the five accounts, with the bank officials promising to exchange
the cards for the four reflecting her correct names. This again, the
bank officials failed to do despite her repeated request.”
Mrs. Jonathan denied allegations that she opened accounts in the names of cooks, drivers and artisans.
The statement said: “That Mrs. Patience Jonathan opened
accounts in the names of cooks, drivers and artisans. This is perhaps
the biggest falsehood to the knowledge of EFCC.
“The purpose for these tales by moonlight is to malign our
client in the eyes of the misinformed and unsuspecting members of the
Nigerian public and beyond and give a semblance of a picture of a
hardworking agency bent on fighting corruption and indeed winning the
war.
“It is unfortunate that the EFCC, which belongs to all
Nigerians, will rather than conduct a painstaking and thorough
investigation of cases brought to it, will resort to a greater
disposition and propensity to engage in media trials built on outright
falsehood and give to innocent persons, including Mrs. Patience
Jonathan, the toga of a “thief” or “corrupt” person even before any
proper trial.”
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