Patience Jonathan’s $15.5m was stolen from government agencies - EFCC alleges

macfranc007 December 31, 2017 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Nigerian newspapers 24/7 Kess Ewubare

- EFCC says former First Lady, Patience Jonathan, does not run any business from which she could have earned the sum of $15.5million

- Patience Jonathan has been in a legal battle with the EFCC, Skye Bank Plc and three companies, over her funds in the companies’ accounts domiciled in Skye Bank

- EFCC arraigns ex-Katsina permanent secretary for fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has accused former First Lady, Patience Jonathan, of stealing the sum of $15.5m from the federal government and its agencies.

The commission made the allegation before the Federal High Court in Lagos in its defence to her suit challenging the freezing of her accounts, The Nation reports.

The EFCC told the court that Patience Jonathan does not run any business from which she could have earned such huge sums.

It said the money does not belong to the former First Lady as its investigations had showed that the money was allegedly stolen from the federal government and its agencies.

“There is no way the plaintiff (Mrs Jonathan) could have genuinely earned the monies. She is the wife of the former president, a civil servant and a retired permanent secretary in Bayelsa State.

“She does not run any profit and interest yielding business venture to generate such money.

“Investigation conducted by the first defendant (EFCC) revealed that the plaintiff is not the owner of the funds in the accounts of the third to fifth defendants (companies), which funds were discovered to be proceeds of fraudulent activities of Waripamo-Owei Emmanuel Dudafa,” EFCC said.

Patience Jonathan has been in a legal battle with the EFCC, Skye Bank Plc and three companies, over her funds in the companies’ accounts domiciled in Skye Bank.

The former First Lady has asked for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the EFCC from transferring the funds to the federal government’s Treasury Single Account (TSA).

She insisted that the money in the companies’ accounts belonged to her, adding that she had been unable to operate the account after EFCC placed a no debit order on the accounts.

The former first lady distanced herself from representatives of the companies who pleaded guilty to laundering the money, stating that they were unknown to her.

She explained that she sought the assistance of Dudafa, former special adviser on domestic affairs to ex-president Jonathan, to open some accounts in her name but protested after three of the four accounts bore the names of companies she had no connection with.

According to her, the bank, promised to rectify the issue while she continued to operate the accounts pending when changes would be effected

She stated that while abroad in July 2016 for a medical check-up, she discovered that she could not make payments from the accounts due to the no debit order.

Patience Jonathan further accused the EFCC of making moves to take her money from her through an order of forfeiture.

She alleged that the agency procured some unknown persons who pleaded guilty to a charge and were convicted on November 2, 2016.

In urging the court to lift the no-debit order, the former first lady stated that she needs her money to able to cater to her health.

But the EFCC countered Patience Jonathan’s argument insisting that its investigations revealed that between 2013 and 2015 huge sums of money were stolen from the federal government of Nigeria and its agencies.

The agencies, it said, were the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

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EFCC said some of the funds also were converted to dollars and converted to the use of Dudafa.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Mohammed Idris ordered parties to file pleadings in the case, indicating that witnesses, including Mrs Jonathan, may testify to justify the money’s ownership.

The case will be heard on January 19.

In another report, a former permanent secretary in Katsina state Yusuf Sule Saulawa was on Friday, December 29, 2017 convicted by Justice Sanusi Tukur of the Katsina State High Court of one count of Obtaining by false pretense.

Saulawa in the administration of former Katsina state governor, Ibrahim Shehu Shema.

The EFCC made this known via its Facebook page.

The convict fraudulently obtained the sum of N2,500,000 ( Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only) from the complainant while he was a Permanent Secretary attached to the office of the Deputy Governor of Katsina State on the pretext that the Office would award the complainant a contract for the supply of fertilizer to all the Local Government Areas in Katsina State.

The EFCC stage a walk against corruption on NAIJ.com TV