Former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday stated that he did no own any foreign accounts.
His declaration was in reaction to reports that the Federal Government has requested his account statements as well as those of his wife, Patience, from banks in the United States.
Bloomberg had reported that the statement of accounts of Jonathan, his wife; former Ministers of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke and Rilwanu Lukman, were being demanded from 10 US banks by the Federal Government.
Nigeria is requesting “all documents concerning any transactions to, from, or for the benefit” of Jonathan and his wife between 2009 and the present day, the report said.
Court documents quoted the attorney-general of the federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, as saying information contained in the document will help an ongoing investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to know individuals in the Process & Industrial Developments Ltd gas deal.
However, Jonathan reacting through a statement issued by his spokesman, Ikechukwu Eze, said the Federal Government was wasting its time as it cannot get what does not exit.
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.
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“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.
“We also remind the public that on March 5, 2014, during the swearing-in of new ministers, then President Jonathan said “I am loyal to Nigeria’s economy. I don’t have 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.
“Jonathan 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”.
The Nigerian government is hoping to overturn $9.7 billion judgement awarded against it, for a breach of agreement in a gas project handled by the Process & Industrial Developments Ltd.
