Eniola Akinkuotu and Ramon Oladimeji 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. http://punchng.com/fresh-5m-found-patience-jonathans-account/ |
