Lai Mohammed, minister of information, on Tuesday said that
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was not probing
Patience Jonathan, former first lady, for claiming ownership of $34.1m
in a case where the anti-corruption agency had given a freezing order.
The former first lady recently approached the Lagos federal high court claiming ownership of the sum seized by the EFCC.
Speaking
with journalists in Kwara state while reacting to insinuation that the
former first lady was being persecuted by the Mohammed explained that it
was only after she took ownership of the aforementioned sum that
another $5 million was discovered.
“If you look at the history of
Mrs. Patience Jonathan’s issue, I think she was the one that came out to
claim that the money found in the accounts of one of the aides to the
former President, her husband, belonged to her,” Mohammed said.
“It
was not the EFCC that claimed so. She claimed that the money that the
guy was being prosecuted for belonged to her. It was only then they
later found an extra $5m in another account.
“It is not as if
anybody has gone out to probe Mrs. Jonathan directly or indirectly.
Rather Mrs. Jonathan was the one that said ‘that money for which you are
accusing Mr. X actually belongs to me.
“So, you cannot start talking of prosecution or persecution.”
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