Minister Lai Mohammed Says Patience Jonathan Not Under EFCC Investigation

Lai Mohammed, minister of information, on Tuesday said that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was not probing Patience Jonathan, former first lady, for claiming ownership of $34.1m in a case where the anti-corruption agency had given a freezing order.

The former first lady recently approached the Lagos federal high court claiming ownership of the sum seized by the EFCC.

Speaking with journalists in Kwara state while reacting to insinuation that the former first lady was being persecuted by the Mohammed explained that it was only after she took ownership of the aforementioned sum that another $5 million was discovered.

“If you look at the history of Mrs. Patience Jonathan’s issue, I think she was the one that came out to claim that the money found in the accounts of one of the aides to the former President, her husband, belonged to her,” Mohammed said.

“It was not the EFCC that claimed so. She claimed that the money that the guy was being prosecuted for belonged to her. It was only then they later found an extra $5m in another account.

“It is not as if anybody has gone out to probe Mrs. Jonathan directly or indirectly. Rather Mrs. Jonathan was the one that said ‘that money for which you are accusing Mr. X actually belongs to me.

“So, you cannot start talking of prosecution or persecution.”