Nigeria Ex-President Reacts As FG Opens Fresh Investigations Into His Bank Accounts

The request was reported to have been made by Abubakar Malami, the attorney general of the federation, to help an ongoing investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as it concerns investigations on some individuals reportedly involved in the Process & Industrial Developments Ltd gas deal.

AFNews understands the bank statements of some other people including former First Lady, Patience Jonathan; former ministers of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke and Rilwanu Lukman.

However, in his reaction, Jonathan in a statement signed by Ikechukwu Eze, his spokesman says he is surprised by the action taken by the federal government, adding that he has no accounts or property abroad that warrants investigation.

"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,ÔÇØ the statement read.

The statement also disclosed that neither Jonathan nor his wife was contacted by the government before a subpoena was issued for the investigation.

"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.ÔÇØ

Eze, however, noted that his principal and his wife are always ready to collaborate with government investigation as they have nothing to hide, adding that the P&ID contract was signed before the Jonathan administration.

"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.ÔÇØ

He added that the Jonathan administration "gave appropriate counsel to the incoming government in the handover notes of 2015, which advice if carried out, would have prevented the current unfortunate circumstancesÔÇØ.

AFNews recalls Nigeria has been in a running international legal battle over the controversial P&ID gas project.