How Patience Jonathan made her $15m, explained, as she sues SERAP

The explanation was given in court papers filed by a group that has sued Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) on her behalf. SERAP had filed a suit in court to compel the attorney-general of the Federation to take a legal action against Mrs. Jonathan.
Union of Niger Delta Youth Organisation for Equity, Justice and Good Governance suing for themselves and on behalf of Mrs Jonathan, filed a suit number FHC/L/CS/1349/2016 before a Federal High Court in Lagos, alleging “campaign of calumny by SERAP against her.

The suit is seeking an order directing SERAP to stay all action and to desist forthwith from proceeding against Mrs. Jonathan, with any process whatsoever, pending the hearing and determination of the Originating Summons.
The group said: 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 utilise 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.
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."