Goodluck Jonathan denies having any bank account or property abroad

Ebun Francis| Nigeria’s former president, Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday denied having any bank account or property abroad.

The former president made the clarification in a statement, against the back drop of a report by Bloomberg that the federal government has requested for the bank statements of public officers including his own and that of his wife to help an ongoing investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) know individuals involved in the controversial Process & Industrial Developments Ltd gas deal.

The statement of the former president’s denial was signed by his spokesman, Ikechukwu Eze.

The statement read, “Our attention has been drawn to international media reports to the effect that the Federal Government of Nigeria has subpoenaed bank records for former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan in the United States of America.”

“We aver that the Federal Government of Nigeria did not contact Dr Jonathan or his wife before issuing these subpoenas. If they had, we would have advised them of the fact that you cannot subpoena what does not exist.”

The statement drew the attention of the public to a comment former Jonathan made during the swearing-in of new ministers on March 5, 2014, stating he had no accounts or property abroad.

“We are confident in stating that between that time and now, nothing has changed with regards to Dr Goodluck Jonathan. He has no accounts in the United States of America and encourages US authorities to cooperate fully with the Federal Government of Nigeria’s subpoena.

“We would also like to state that during his tenure as President of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Jonathan extended every courtesy to former Presidents and Heads of state because he believed and still believes that promoting, projecting and protecting Nigeria’s sovereignty and the image is the paramount duty of her government because it is not possible to belittle Nigerians without belittling Nigeria.”

According to the statement, the P&ID contract was signed before the Jonathan administration and that he “gave appropriate counsel to the incoming government in the handover notes of 2015, which advice if carried out, would have prevented the current unfortunate circumstances”.