Politics
Group to EFCC: Probe former first ladies not just Patience Jonathan
An anti-corruption movement, The Integrity Group, has called on the President Muhammadu Buhari to beam the anti-corruption searchlight on all former first ladies in the country.
In the absence of this, the group insisted that the government must stop what it called the “seeming witch-hunt” of Mrs Jonathan.
The group also noted that the current media trial of the former first lady is capable of setting off new waves of violent reactions in the volatile Niger Delta region, adding that it was the responsibility of the Warning that the continued ‘media trial’ of t ex-president’s wife could trigger off more violent reactions in the Niger Delta, adding that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to prove its case rather than asking Mrs Jonathan to explain the source of her wealth.
The group stated this at a news conference addressed by its Executive Director, Livingstone Wechie, on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said: “No Nigerian under any law, including Patience Jonathan is under any obligation to explain how he/she made his/her money. If the EFCC thinks anybody stole money, they should by evidence show how and wherefrom the money was stolen.
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“The cumulative value of the monies in the Skye Bank account that Mrs Jonathan claims is less than $10 million. The report credited to the EFCC that the monies were in excess of $30 million is completely false, malicious and misleading and this is deliberate. The EFCC is challenged to provide public evidence of its claim of $31 million lodged in Skye Bank.
“This attack on Patience and Goodluck Jonathan may spark up avoidable security problems in the old Eastern Nigeria and we are willing to support Mr President in averting same.
“As such, our message is, arrest and prosecute all former first families including their aides and seize all their assets and money or leave Goodluck and Patience Jonathan alone and restore all their seized assets”, Wechie said.
By Timothy Enietan-Matthews
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