The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has traced an additional $5m to the Skye Bank account of Dame Patience Jonathan, the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

This brings to $20m the total amount so far traced to the former first lady.

As part of investigations into a money laundering case against a former Special Adviser on Domestic Affairs to ex-President Jonathan, Waripamowei Dudafa, the EFCC had traced four company accounts to him with a balance of $15m.

The EFCC subsequently charged Dudafa and the four companies with money laundering.

The four companies, whose accounts have since been frozen, are Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited, Seagate Property Development and Investment Company Limited, Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited and Globus Integrated Service Limited.

A source at the EFCC said, “While we were investigating Dudafa, we traced the four companies to him. The companies have domiciliary accounts at Skye Bank with a balance of about $15m. So, we obtained a court order and froze the accounts.

“We then traced the directors of the companies who then denied ownership of the accounts. It was later that we were informed that the accounts belonged to Patience Jonathan and that she is the sole signatory to the accounts. She was given a special card which she used in making withdrawals across the world.

“We, therefore, wondered why the accounts were not opened in her name if she had nothing to hide. In fact, we later found out that her personal account, which bears her name, has a balance of $5m. One wonders where a person, who has never held a government position, got the money from. She was not our initial target but she certainly has questions to answer.”

Jonathan’s wife has, however, sued Skye Bank for freezing her bank accounts and giving the EFCC vital information about her finances.

Patience filed a N200m fundamental rights enforcement suit against Skye Bank Plc.

One Sammie Somiari, who deposed to an affidavit on behalf of Patience, claimed that the EFCC placed a No Debit Order on the four accounts in July, in the course of probing Dudafa.

The EFCC has now filed an amended 17 counts against Dudafa and seven others, including the four companies, wherein the suspects were accused of conspiring to conceal $15,591,700, which the EFCC claimed they ought to have known formed part of proceeds of an unlawful act.

Somiari said in the affidavit filed on behalf of Patience, who is said to be away for an urgent medical treatment abroad, that it was Dudafa who helped Patience open the four bank accounts which the EFCC froze.

According to him, Dudafa had on March 22, 2010 brought two Skye Bank officers, Demola Bolodeoku and Dipo Oshodi, to meet Patience at home to open five accounts.

The deponent claimed that Patience was the sole signatory to the accounts.

He, however, claimed that after the five accounts were opened, Patience later discovered that Dudafa opened only one of the accounts in her name, while the other four were opened in the names of companies belonging to Dudafa.

Somiari added, “The applicant (Patience) complained about this to Dudafa, who at his prompting and instance promised to effect the change of the said accounts to the applicant’s name; and to effect this change, Dudafa brought the said bank manager, Mr. Dipo Oshodi, who was purported to have effected the changes. This was about April 2014.

“The applicant is not a director, shareholder or participant in the companies named in the aforementioned four accounts.

“The bank official, Mr. Dipo Oshodi, as it would appear, did not effect or reflect the instruction of the applicant to change the said accounts to her name(s) despite repeated requests of the applicant.


“Besides, the ATM credit cards bearing the said companies’ names were brought to the applicant by Mr. Dipo Oshodi of the second respondent bank, who promised to replace them once the cards bearing the changed names were available, but he never did.

“However, since 2010 up until 2014 and thereafter, the applicant had been using the cards on the said accounts and operating the said accounts without let or hindrance.

“Even in May, June and July 2016, the applicant travelled overseas for medical treatment and was using the said credit cards abroad up until July 7, 2016 or thereabout when the cards stopped functioning.”

In her fundamental rights suit, Patience is urging the court to compel the EFCC to immediately remove the No Debit Order placed on her accounts.

She also wants the court to order Skye Bank to pay her damages in the sum of N200m for what she termed a violation of her right to own personal property under Section 44 of the Constitution.

However, the EFCC is in moves to arraign Dudafa and his alleged accomplices for money laundering before a Federal High Court in Lagos.

Further proceedings in the case has been adjourned until September 15.

However, the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), has said with the fresh admission by Patience that she owns the accounts, the EFCC has the right to probe her.

Sagay told one of our correspondents on the telephone that the Act establishing the EFCC gave the anti-graft agency the power to investigate anybody who is seen to have more wealth than he ought to have.

The senior advocate wondered how Patience, who was a civil servant and never held any government position, could have billions in her bank accounts.

He said, “The EFCC and ICPC Act have provisions under which they can ask the court to freeze the account of a person if a person’s capacity to earn is below the amount of money that the person appears to have.

“If you are living a lavish lifestyle and it appears you don’t have the means to have acquired the property and the wealth you have, the EFCC is free to probe you.

“If she is claiming the money belongs to her, she has put herself in a position where she must explain how she earned it.”

Attempts to get the comments of the wife of the former president were not successful.

Repeated calls and a text message sent to the Media Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr Ikechukwu Eze, were also not responded to as of 8:45pm on Saturday.

fiizznation:
This woman though; always in the news for all the wrong reasons. I think Jonathan will divorce her very soon

modath:
Imagine & some crazies won't keep Buhari's name out of their lips... ish..

Mama P is the perfect representation of the false allure that our pastorpreneurs sell to the subconsciously intellectually lazy, " No work or the barest minimal work but big money flowing unbriddled...

This woman is one of the major reasons the IB didn't return, from the cringe worthy "diaris godu oo" dramatic, to the grand scale " brain dead", "almajiri" "food in prison" rhetorics... The grammar accident is excusable but the classlessness ... hell to the N.O!!



*caveat* not trying to exonerate Buhari cos he has committed some major gaffes, in thinking that restricting forex will prevent corrupt minded folks from repartrating stolen public funds abroad... with the belief that they will have no choice but to let it back into circulation... Hin nor know naija folks... they will rather buy USD @ 500n than let that happen..

Firefire:


Perfect!

Standing5:
Can one steal what belongs to himself or herself? Our oyel money it is.

modath:


Finish wetin dey ya mind..



Really? Which OML is yours?

modath:


Divorce who? IB divorce mama P? Who born am? He daren't, !! He won't even contemplate such.

He doesn't have the cojones to do that, someone who wailers and household enemies claimed was "pushed" by the governors to squander the savings that could have cushioned the effect to deep in the valley oil price that 180m people are saddeningly overdependent on.

modath:

Finish wetin dey ya mind..




Really? Which OML is yours?

Firefire:
I now understand the classification better from your choice of word. Crazies

If you are not supporting APC & Buhary your are now classified as "Crazies"

Perfect!

anonimi:


Thanks for decoding her sharperly bro.
Crazies ko, clusters ni!!!


I wonder which category she is sef. Whether the redeemable buharists or the irrevocably lost zombies in the buharideen group. Won't it be interesting to find out
Back to the OP, this is just another MEDIA circus that won't yield anything but FAKE stories of recovered trillions trillions but still DullardPoo's federal government goes A-Borrowing.
Since their new slogan- change begins with me you (that is not chopping Aisha Halliburton rice with them in government), they need to find a new angle to mesmerize their brain-dead zombies.


[/img]

Firefire:


I now understand the classification better from your choice of word. Crazies

If you are not supporting APC & Buhary your are now "Crazies"

Perfect!

modath:



You are one of the very few people i bother with so i will just say, your interpretation, your choice....

Crazies still remain crazies.. dazall..

fiizznation:
Funny. How can 2/3 governors in the opposition party "push" a whole president to squander the nation's excess crude oil reserve money just because he was told to do so? That's silliness. Jonathan was too weak and that was his greatest undoing. He could have been a great leader if he wasn't so weak. And his handlers capitalized on his weakness to deliver a heavy blow on the nation.

Btw, I wish you a happy eid-kabir in advance.

FG, States, LGs Share N568.4 Billion for Oct
15 NOVEMBER 2013


[img]http://cdn1.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/412x247xOkonjo-Iweala-e1442838220305.jpg.pagespeed.ic.nz-K0adxSv.webp[/img]



Also, $1billion was proposed for distribution to complement shortfall in expected revenue." The $1billion is a compromise by the FG over its words in September not to augment shortfalls anymore.

Responding to the presentation, the chairman of the States Commissioners of Finance and Ebonyi State Commissioner of Finance, Mr Timothy Odaah, lamented that the statutory allocation was getting smaller and smaller. "It appears this is the worst in terms of returns. This is the least in allocations as far as this year is concerned. We are mourning the dearth of funds and this is a wakeup call for states and local governments to buoy up their internally generated revenue."

While appreciating the "magnanimity" of President Goodluck Jonathan to approve the $1billion from the excess crude account and to be shared among the federal, state and local governments, Odaah expressed disappointment with the returns made by the NNPC.

He said that [size=14pt]the states had requested for $2bn[/size] to complement for the shortfall in revenue but got only $1billion. In September, Odaah and fellow commissioners had walked out of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) when the federal government said that the framework of the 2013 budget was no longer realistic and it won't augment shortfall in revenue. Odaah raised issues with the statutory allocations of previous months.

More from: http://allafrica.com/stories/201311150323.html

anonimi:
[size=14pt]Tinubu Tackles FG, CBN On Excess Crude Oil Sales Account[/size]
Feb 22, 2001









The Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday joined issues with the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CB N) over the recent face-off between the different tiers of government on the excess crude oil sales reserve account of US$ 1. 8 billion which is about N198 billion.

Expressing concern at the impression being created that the economy is rudderless, Tinubu argued that the central issue transcends the release or non-release of the fund into the Federation Account.

In his words: “The fundamental issues and principles at stake go much deeper. They are more broadly about the rule of law and the supremacy of the constitution on one hand, and the need for cooperation and coordination in a true federal structure, as a basis for sustaining and strengthening our fledgling democracy on the other hand”.

Governor Tinubu [size=14pt]disagreed with the CBN's position that release of the excess crude reserves to the states and local governments, though legitimate, [/size]would lead to inflation; cause a rundown of the nation's foreign reserves; weaken the exchange rate further and run counter to agreements reached with the IMF.

The Governor contended that "in a period of excess capacity and low purchasing power, there should not be undue inflationary pressures from an injection of funds into the economy. Instead, such a development should be beneficial to economic activity and growth, despite the fact that there are supply rigidities and inefficiencies which would limit the potential benefits”.

On the purported likely impact on foreign reserves, Tinubu argued that "in an import-dependent economy such as ours, it is inevitable that an upturn in the level of economic activity would engender a fall in foreign reserves. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Rather, it would be immoral to appear to be building up high foreign reserves in the midst of grinding poverty”.

He stressed further that if the N198 billion released is matched by an equivalent US$1.8 billion, there should not be a fall in the value of the Naira as the supply of dollars would be in place to match any increased demand”.

Tinubu also said it would be unfair for the federal government to agree unilaterally to commit revenues due to other tiers of government, to an agreement with the IMF or anyone else.

Attributing inflationary pressures in the economy largely to the federal government's overspending and printing of money to finance such expenditure, Tinubu said "It is hardly fair for the FGN to overspend and then seek to correct the inflationary effect on the economy by starving other tiers of government of their rightful funds”.

Stressing that there is no basis for CBN or any authority to flout the constitution and deny states and local governments their own share of the Federation Account, Tinubu noted that "the excess crude reserve account is itself an illegality, carried over from the military era, as there is no provision in the law or the constitution for federally - collected revenues to be diverted to such an account”.

Advocating constructive dialogue on the management of the economy Governor Tinubu said "it is time for us to sit down and dialogue about how to move from where we are now, to where we need to get to, while respecting true federalism in fiscal and other matters”.

From: http://asiwajubolatinubu.com/archives/news/2001/02/22/20010222N01.html

Firefire:


The bitterness in the soul of the remaining Zone-Bs is not of this world. The are ready to maim or kill opposition at any slight opportunity.

Imagine, calling a fellow citizen "Crazies" for holding a divergent opinion to yours?

This is incredible.

fiizznation:
Funny. How can 2/3 governors in the opposition party "push" a whole president to squander the nation's excess crude oil reserve money just because he was told to do so? That's silliness. Jonathan was too weak and that was his greatest undoing. He could have been a great leader if he wasn't so weak. And his handlers capitalized on his weakness to deliver a heavy blow on the nation.

Btw, I wish you a happy eid-kabir in advance.

seunmsg:
This woman and her handlers must think that Nigerians are fools.

modath:


I know quite well i should never bother engaging you but i always forget an election rigger never looks favourably on anyone who supports anything that took the crumbs they sweep to feed on off the floor..... Lesson finally learnt.

Imagine this crap on a beautiful sunday!!!! Mtcheeww!!



*drops the thing in the ignore bin and walks away*

modath:
With the record oil price he had, he could have Lee kwan yew-ed himself into the hearts of everyone and written his name in gold but when you ain't gat it, you can't buy it or cosign it.

modath:
Imagine & some crazies won't keep Buhari's name out of their lips... ish..

Mama P is the perfect representation of the false allure that our pastorpreneurs sell to the subconsciously intellectually lazy, " No work or the barest minimal work but big money flowing unbriddled...

This woman is one of the major reasons the IB didn't return, from the cringe worthy "diaris godu oo" dramatic, to the grand scale " brain dead", "almajiri" "food in prison" rhetorics... The grammar accident is excusable but the classlessness ... hell to the N.O!!



*caveat* not trying to exonerate Buhari cos he has committed some major gaffes, in thinking that restricting forex will prevent corrupt minded folks from repartrating stolen public funds abroad... with the belief that they will have no choice but to let it back into circulation... Hin nor know naija folks... they will rather buy USD @ 500n than let that happen..

Firefire:

It is finished! Partisan taken to another level.
Btw: Happy Sunday.

Firefire:
Sister looking for escape route and justification(s). (Election rigger ko, ballot box snatcher ni.)

For me, I still prefer a democratic environment where everyone has equal opportunity to air their view(s) without being labeled, castigated or abuse. (A free world where mutual love and respect exist).

We must have different opinion.