Goodluck Jonathan will not speak on the recovered fund in Ikoyi - Associate
- Former President Goodluck Jonathan may not succumb to pressure to speak on the N13.3 billion recovered from an Ikoyi apartment
- This is despite mounting calls from some quarters for the ex-president to comment on the discovery
- The issue is being investigated by a panel led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo
A close associate of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has told Thisday that the former president would not succumb to pressure to speak on the N13.3 billion recovered from an Ikoyi apartment.
This is despite mounting calls from some quarters for the ex-president to comment on the discovery.
The source who spoke off the record stated that it was wrong for people to expect Jonathan to speak openly on security approvals and operations under his administration.
He said the standard thing to do was to request concerned intelligence chiefs to offer professional clarifications when necessary.
Jonathan has not issued any statement regarding the recovered fund
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He stated that the ex-president made legitimate approvals for the nation’s security and intelligence agencies in his capacity as president, adding that the ongoing investigations would prove that Jonathan did the right thing.
His words: “Nigerians should be careful not to let their emotions get the better of them in order not to destroy the integrity of the nation’s respected institutions, especially the Office of the President.
“It is worrying the way the media is sensationalising the issue of the funds recovered in a Lagos flat, with reference to the immediate past president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan.
“From a section of the media we have seen a baseless desperation to link the former president with the money, generate negative headlines and swing public opinion, in line with preconceived objectives.
“From that quarter also is a strident and dramatised call for ex-President Jonathan to openly discuss details of security approvals and operations, even when a presidential panel is already investigating the matter.
“There is nowhere in the world where former or serving presidents are challenged daily to speak on covert activities of elite intelligence agencies, especially where concerned intelligence chiefs are on hand to offer professional clarifications.”
He added that while investigations are ongoing, some people are hell-bent on selling to the public an orchestrated narrative that the fund was set aside for 2015 general election.
File photos of the recovered funds from the Ikoyi flat
He said: “Obviously, this unsubstantiated calculation holds no water because it does not make sense to claim that the NIA chiefs who are now under a new boss would still be warehousing money for 2015 polls long after the elections, and two years after the former president has handed over to his successor.
“We should not forget that former President Jonathan stayed on as president for two months after the 2015 presidential election before handing over power to his successor, President Muhammadu Buhari, on May 29, 2015.
“Have the authors of this false narrative wondered why Jonathan did not use the opportunity of those last days in office to help himself to the recovered money, if indeed it was stashed on his orders, as is now being strangely claimed in some quarters?
“As Nigerians who wish the best for our dear country, it behoves all of us to remain truly committed to the efforts towards rebuilding the nation.
“Those who pour all their energies into spreading falsehood and promoting unhelpful lynch plots are only hurting the process.”
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com gathered that Osinbajo-led panel investigating the recovered N13 billion has decided not to invite Jonathan for questioning again for political reasons.
Media reports had suggested that Jonathan would be invited by the panel considering the insistence of the suspended NIA DG, Ayo Oke that the ex-presiden approved the fund.
Oke had told Osinbajo that the money had come from the National Petroleum Investment Management Service on February 25, 2015, based on the instruction of Jonathan.