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Former first lady of Nigeria, Patience Jonathan[/caption]
Former First Lady, Patience Jonathan, has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, of presenting its agents in court, as company representatives to plead guilty.
According to Mrs Jonathan, the action of the EFCC was aimed at confiscating her money.
This was contained in a statement issued by her media aide, Yemi Akinbode, denying that the accounts were used for money laundering, as alleged by the EFCC.
Earlier on Thursday, September 15, four companies linked to the former First Lady pleaded guilty to laundering $15,591,700 (about N5 billion). They are: Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited (represented by Friday Davis); Seagate Property Development and Investment Company Limited (represented by Agbor Baro); Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited (represented by Dioghowori Frederick); and Avalon Global Property Development Limited (represented by Taiwo Ebenezer).
The companies, along with a former Special Adviser on Domestic Affairs to former President, Goodluck Jonathan, Waripamo Dudafa, a lawyer, Amajuoyi Briggs and a banker, Adedamola Bolodeoku, were arraigned before Justice Babs Kuewumi of the Federal High Court in Lagos.
Dudafa, Briggs and Bolodeoku, pleaded not guilty to a 17-count charge before Justice Kuewumi.
Meanwhile, Mrs Jonathan has sued the EFCC and Skye Bank over the freezing of her bank accounts, demanding N200 million damages.
She said the funds in the accounts of the companies, which pleaded guilty, were hers.
Related: Tears As ‘Patience Jonathan’ Pleads Guilty
Reacting, the former First Lady’s media aide said: “That Mrs. Patience Ibifaka Jonathan is laying claim to ownership of a whopping sum of $31.7 million dollars fund recovered by EFCC is a complete fallacy.” Mrs. Jonathan does not own and has never owned such amount of money. The reason for this lie is best known to the EFCC.
“That another sum of $20 million dollars has been traced to Mrs. Patience Ibifaka Jonathan, is again, another falsehood aimed at hoodwinking the public against Mrs. Jonathan.
“That a further sum of $5 million dollars has again being traced to another account of Mrs. Patience Jonathan. This is also a fallacy.
“That Mrs. Patience Jonathan opened accounts in the names of cooks, drivers and artisans. This is perhaps the biggest falsehood to the knowledge of EFCC”.
According to the former First Lady, the authenticity of the representatives of the four companies who pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering were in doubt.
The statement said; Mrs Jonathan would appeal the validity of the representatives of Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited, Seagate Property Development and Investment Company Limited, Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited, and Avalon Global Property Development Company Limited.
She added: “This is a clear evidence of the desperation of the prosecution to pull down the former First Lady and confiscate her hard-earned money,” the statement quoted Oyewole as saying.
“This is an irony; I was the one who went to court for the repatriation of my confiscated money when I realised that the EFCC and its co-travelers were playing politics with this issue, after I had come out publicly to say that the said money belongs to me and that I have all evidence to prove the sources of my money.
“Up till this very moment, EFCC has refused to interrogate or invite me for questioning, while the agency has continued to detain Dudafa under heavy armed security guards.
“The biggest twist in court on Thursday, was that the fourth to seventh defendants pleaded guilty to all the 15-count charges. It is clear that these unknown faces were agents of the EFCC, who have been stage-managed and tutored to come to court to complicate the case as a strategy to confiscate my money.”
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Former first lady of Nigeria, Patience Jonathan[/caption]Former First Lady, Patience Jonathan, has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, of presenting its agents in court, as company representatives to plead guilty.
According to Mrs Jonathan, the action of the EFCC was aimed at confiscating her money.
This was contained in a statement issued by her media aide, Yemi Akinbode, denying that the accounts were used for money laundering, as alleged by the EFCC.
Earlier on Thursday, September 15, four companies linked to the former First Lady pleaded guilty to laundering $15,591,700 (about N5 billion). They are: Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited (represented by Friday Davis); Seagate Property Development and Investment Company Limited (represented by Agbor Baro); Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited (represented by Dioghowori Frederick); and Avalon Global Property Development Limited (represented by Taiwo Ebenezer).
The companies, along with a former Special Adviser on Domestic Affairs to former President, Goodluck Jonathan, Waripamo Dudafa, a lawyer, Amajuoyi Briggs and a banker, Adedamola Bolodeoku, were arraigned before Justice Babs Kuewumi of the Federal High Court in Lagos.
Dudafa, Briggs and Bolodeoku, pleaded not guilty to a 17-count charge before Justice Kuewumi.
Meanwhile, Mrs Jonathan has sued the EFCC and Skye Bank over the freezing of her bank accounts, demanding N200 million damages.
She said the funds in the accounts of the companies, which pleaded guilty, were hers.
Related: Tears As ‘Patience Jonathan’ Pleads Guilty
Reacting, the former First Lady’s media aide said: “That Mrs. Patience Ibifaka Jonathan is laying claim to ownership of a whopping sum of $31.7 million dollars fund recovered by EFCC is a complete fallacy.” Mrs. Jonathan does not own and has never owned such amount of money. The reason for this lie is best known to the EFCC.
“That another sum of $20 million dollars has been traced to Mrs. Patience Ibifaka Jonathan, is again, another falsehood aimed at hoodwinking the public against Mrs. Jonathan.
“That a further sum of $5 million dollars has again being traced to another account of Mrs. Patience Jonathan. This is also a fallacy.
“That Mrs. Patience Jonathan opened accounts in the names of cooks, drivers and artisans. This is perhaps the biggest falsehood to the knowledge of EFCC”.
According to the former First Lady, the authenticity of the representatives of the four companies who pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering were in doubt.
The statement said; Mrs Jonathan would appeal the validity of the representatives of Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited, Seagate Property Development and Investment Company Limited, Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited, and Avalon Global Property Development Company Limited.
She added: “This is a clear evidence of the desperation of the prosecution to pull down the former First Lady and confiscate her hard-earned money,” the statement quoted Oyewole as saying.
“This is an irony; I was the one who went to court for the repatriation of my confiscated money when I realised that the EFCC and its co-travelers were playing politics with this issue, after I had come out publicly to say that the said money belongs to me and that I have all evidence to prove the sources of my money.
“Up till this very moment, EFCC has refused to interrogate or invite me for questioning, while the agency has continued to detain Dudafa under heavy armed security guards.
“The biggest twist in court on Thursday, was that the fourth to seventh defendants pleaded guilty to all the 15-count charges. It is clear that these unknown faces were agents of the EFCC, who have been stage-managed and tutored to come to court to complicate the case as a strategy to confiscate my money.”
Read more
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