Former President Goodluck Jonathan has met with some members of his cabinet in a bid to defend his integrity.

He was said to have told the former ministers that he was “not a thief in office as being portrayed”.He explained how he met President Muhammadu Buhari for 20 minutes on two issues.

They are:
*advising Buhari against subjecting his person and former cabinet members to “media trial” on alleged corruption and;

*.why the Election Petition Tribunals in Rivers and Akwa Ibom should be allowed to work unhindered.

He deplored what he called the involvement of the Department of State Security Service(DSS) on election-related matters in the two states. According to sources, the meeting was held at Jonathan’s Abuja home a few days ago. It was gathered that about 15 former ministers (including two who were recalled from London) and some former security chiefs attended.

One of the former media aides in the Presidency attended the “strictly private” session to put issues in the correct perspective at the right time.

But the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, who is central to the allegations against Jonathan, was absent. A source, who spoke in confidence, said the session was “a frank and fact-finding” against the backdrop of plans by the Buhari administration to probe Jonathan’s tenure.

The source said: “The ex-President confided in the meeting that he was worried that the gains of his administration were being washed away daily by the allegations of corruption being reeled out by the government. “He said he called the session to set the records straight and get facts because his administration was not enjoying any benefit of doubt among Nigerians, especially the media. “At a point, Jonathan, in an emotional manner told the meeting that ‘I am not a thief in office as being portrayed.

”Another source said the former President asked all the ex-ministers to “brace for the probe ahead and keep their records intact to reply Buhari’s administration on issues being raised. “The ex-ministers unanimously agreed that there were better sides of Jonathan’s administration than being painted as a tenure of graft. “The key ministries, such as Works, Finance, Health, Aviation, Education and even Petroleum Resources were mandated to produce lists of achievements.

“Some of the ex-ministers lamented that the Permanent Secretaries proving to Buhari as holier-than-thou were part of the Jonathan administration and they even made input into the handover notes.

”Responding to a question, the source said: “Jonathan and the ex-ministers admitted that the administration might have some issues to clear in the management of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. “But they said the situation was not as bad in the oil sector as being alleged.

”A third source said: “I think we should expect some fireworks in the next few days. The meeting resolved to reach out to the public in the same equal weight the allegations of corruption will be released by the Buhari administration.

“But there was a word of caution that any response must not be abusive. The President personally appointed a former Minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Suleiman, to sign any statement on cabinet issues.

It was learnt that some of the ex-Ministers asked Jonathan what he actually discussed with Buhari.“The President said he raised two issues with President Buhari within 20 minutes. This border on the need to avoid media trial on any allegation of corruption being looked into.

He said he told Buhari that his image and members of his cabinet were being dragged in the mud. He said even in law, an accused person is deemed innocent until proven guilty. “Jonathan also said he asked Buhari to leave the Election Petition Tribunals in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states to do their work instead of the hounding of some INEC officials and politicians by DSS.”

cc lalasticlala

“He said he called the session to set the records straight and get facts because his administration was not enjoying any benefit of
doubt among Nigerians, especially the media. “At
a point, Jonathan, in an emotional manner told the meeting that ‘I am not a thief in office as being portrayed.

He said he told Buhari that his image and members of his cabinet were being dragged in the mud. He said even in law, an accused person is deemed innocent until proven guilty. “Jonathan also said he asked Buhari to leave the Election Petition Tribunals in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states to do their work instead of the hounding of some INEC officials and politicians by DSS.”

DeRoyalFranco:
I wonder why you are calling them ex ministers.. Even Jonathan is still my own president.. And i still see APC as d opposition party... Qat no worries.. Correction = Nigeria president held a meeting with some of his ministers.. Simple!

ORACLE1975:
I must say I like the bold move of the Jonathan Ministers because from my humble but candid observation, I think the APC has no
agenda and they represents a crop of old and failed politicians who are bereft
of leadership ideas and experiences. Each time I read news from Nigeria, I am
appalled by the arrogant insinuations of the APC and its bad mouthing the
Jonathan administration, even though it is no longer in power. This APC
strategy is one clear characteristic of poor and inexperienced leadership.
While I am not a politician and would never want to be, I would very much love
to contribute my quota to develop Nigeria when I come home. I want APC to learn
from great leaders like the pragmatic and resilient Barack Obama. When Obama
came to power in 2008, the US economy was so bad that it was in deep recession.
The magnitude of such economic disaster impacted the whole global economy that
it plunged into a level as bad as the great depression. Obama did not rule by
making Bush a reference point at every instances or wasting his time conducting
any probe of the Bush administration. Instead, he tackled the problems he met
head long. It is to Obama's credit that the world was steered out of recession
and the global economy became flamboyant once again. Unemployment rate in the
US is now 5.2% down from 9.1% when Obama took power. Even at this present time
when global oil prices have fallen, and big economies like Russia and China are
seeing their surpluses turn to deficit, the US can boast of having one of the
strong economy in the world. The lesson is simple: good leaders do not look for
scapegoats for their own failures. They do not continue pointing accusing
fingers each time reality stare them on the face. They instead put plugs to contain
the problems and stop them from getting worse. The present Nigerian leadership
seems not to know the problem facing the nation. They dont seem to have ideas. The
only ideas they seem to have is how to demonize PDP and cast aspersions on the
people who served the country in the last administration. Noise making, we all
know, cannot solve problems. Noises about stolen funds and waiting until the
funds are recovered before one can start ruling is cheap blackmail. When Buhari
came to power years back, among the problems he said he is fighting was
nepotism. But nepotism of sort is what Nigeria is seeing from his current appointments.
The President should roll out his agenda and his plans to make Nigeria great
even with the limited resources he met on ground. His ability to start working
and not talking about money that has already been spent, will engrave his name
in the annals of history. We Nigerians both home and in diaspora are ready to
work with him. Throwing muds and casting aspersions all the time is getting too
boring and stale, and is a sign of rascality, ineptitude, and an area boy
approach to politicking. It is only in Nigeria and Africa that such leadership
trait is lauded as an achievement. Dear President Buhari, history beckons on
you. Do not let people who have malice and hatred in their heart or axes to
grind drag you into their tirade. If you should be angry over anything, your
anger should be directed at audit Departments in all the Ministries and
parastatals where lootings took place. They earn fat salaries for doing no job,
and they drive shinny cars and live in luxurious homes, and now want you to abandon
your enormous job of governance and do their jobs of checking ledgers.
BUHARI PLEASE SETTLE DOWN.

kingsolex:
jona call your boys to order by advising them on how to return our oyel money... kingsolex says sooo

azzima:
See as dem dey collab! No wonder these ministers issued a warning to PMB about his probings. Obviously somebody is getting jittery. I have never seen stealing from every corner like this. Sadly ,most of the people here defending these looters are the same jobless, miserable ones whose futures have been stolen by these thieves. Their children can never be in the same room with the Children of these looters. You can go to all the upscale nightclubs in VI and see what I am talking about.