CACOL wants Patience Jonathan to explain hotel ownership

As Dame Patience Jonathan battles to retrieve the $31.4 million frozen by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Coalition against Corrupt Leaders, (CACOL) has asked the former First Lady to tell Nigerians how she came about owning a property worth N10 billion when she was just a civil servant and never held any government position.

Patience, the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, had recently being in the news for claiming ownership of the amount seized by the EFCC. Many Nigerians have asked how she got the various sums just being a wife to a former president.

The Financial Times had reported that the N10 billion worth hotel, Aridolf Resort Wellness and Spa, which was lunched towards the end of Goodluck Jonathan's tenure in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital, is allegedly owned by Patience and said to have imported state-of-the-art furniture, which can rank with other luxury hotels in the world.

Through its executive chairman of CACOL, Comrade Debo Adeniran, the group asked the wife of her to explain to Nigerians how she came about reportedly owning the luxurious hotel and some funds allegedly traced to her bank accounts.

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"How did she get the money and even the ones starched in her account? That is what we Nigerians want to know.

"As far as we can understand, she didn’t hold any government position; she’s just a civil servant. So as a civil servant, how did she manage to acquire such a luxurious property that is worth that amount, because she would have earned less than 10 percent of the amount even if she had been a director or permanent secretary in the Bayelsa civil service all of the entire years she has spent on earth?"

"The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-graft agencies have been conferred with the jurisdiction and also empowered to probe any past or current public officials living life above their legitimate earnings; hence it would be negligent of the EFCC if it wastes time any further in commencing prosecution of the former First Lady who has, by her action in court, confessed she possessed an amount of cash and property she couldn’t have legitimately earned.

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"We commend so far the efforts of the federal government and the anti-corruption agencies for their efforts in probing those publicly exposed persons found wanting.

"We also call on the government to exhibit pro-activeness towards creating the enabling environment for the fight against corruption by facilitating the emergence of enabling laws that will remove encumbrances on the path of the anti-corruption drive," Adeniran said.

Since the scandal broke out, many top Nigerians have been mounting pressure on the EFCC to ensure the former First Lady is properly investigated.

Source: Legit.ng