Former Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has denied for the umpteenth time that he has neither bank account nor property overseas.
The denial was in response to moves by the federal government subpoena bank records alleged to belong to Jonathan and his wife, Patience.
Mr. Ikechukwu Eze, spokesman for Jonathan said in a statement that the federal government never contacted the former president or his wife before issuing the subpoena.
“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.
“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.”
Eze also stated that between the time Jonathan made claims of not operating foreign account and now, “nothing has changed with regard to the former president.”
Besides, the spokesman said efforts to check the former president’s accounts were needless because Jonathan had no such accounts in the United States.
“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,” the statement said.
“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 image is the paramount duty of her government, because it is not possible to belittle Nigerians without belittling Nigeria.
“Finally, we state that the signing of the P&ID contracts preceded the Jonathan administration, and that that government 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 seeking documents from 10 banks, including Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., in a bid to overturn a $9.6 billion arbitration award related to a gas supply deal that the country alleged is shrouded in corruption.
Bloomberg reported that the federal government had asked a Federal Court in New York for permission to subpoena information about transactions involving government officials, including former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Jonathan was the president between 2010 and 2015 when the Nigeria signed a contract with Process & Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID) and later became involved in a costly dispute with the company.
“There is good reason to believe that ministers at the highest level were involved in a corrupt scheme to steal money from Nigeria,” said the attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami in court filings submitted March 24.
The P&ID issue dominated the headlines in August 2019 when a U.K. judge ruled P&ID could enforce an arbitration tribunal’s 2017 ruling, totaling $9.6 billion, including interest, which found Nigeria guilty of breach of contract.
