Chairman of EFCC, Mrs. Farida Waziri
Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri, yesterday denied claims by a United States-based whistle blowing website, Wikileaks.com, that the anti-graft agency had on September 11, 2006, seized $13.5 million from the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, when she (Patience) was then wife of the Governor of Bayelsa State, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
Denying the report, the EFCC chairman said the first lady was not under “any form” of investigation by the agency and described the report as mischievous.
Waziri made the clarification while receiving the representatives of Women Empowering and Enriching Lives (WEEL), an Abuja-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), who were on a courtesy visit to the EFCC corporate headquarters, Abuja.
According to Waziri, the visit of the NGO provided her an opportunity to respond to several enquiries she had been getting on an alleged pending case against Patience.
“Let me state clearly that the commission will not allow itself to be used to drag innocent people’s names into crimes, cases or allegations they know nothing about. In this particular case, I have read my predecessor say, in media interviews in September 2010, that Mrs. Jonathan was not in any way involved in any case of money laundering investigated by the EFCC under him.
“I have thereafter checked our records and cannot find any case of money laundering against Mrs. Jonathan or the president himself. So, each time I get an enquiry or read about this, I often wonder where this is coming from,” Waziri said.
She maintained that if the person said to have investigated the first lady for money laundering had as far back as September 2010 disclaimed this, she wondered why people were still referring to it.
She said the commission “does not have, in any account or records, where $13.5 million was recovered from Mrs. Jonathan in 2006”.
“We should learn to separate the truth from blackmail. Our society can only thrive on justice and fair play, if we uphold the right values and shun the politics of pulling innocent people down,” she added.
She also said: “I think that a good name is better than silver and gold. People work hard to build their names and images and then to overnight come and cast this damage or scandal to hunt someone, I think is a great sin and I don’t allow it. I know I have been a victim of such and I know what it means and what it takes.”
She also said that when she took up the job, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua called her and asked her if she knew what it entailed to handle the job, adding “he had told me that my name will be rubbished, I will be scandalised, people will write all sort of rubbish against me, tissues of lies will be concurred against me. He asked if I realised that and I said yes, I have been through it before.”
She said when the former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, allegedly offered $15 million bribe to the former chairman of the EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the money was kept and remained intact at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“This is why in the EFCC today, only the mischievous will say the EFCC under my leadership witch-hunts, or drags people’s names in the mud or violates rule of law in our operations. I am proud to say that in the last three years, we have done much more and achieved great feats without operating outside the ambit of the law,” she said.
Coordinator of WEEL, Jennifer Gbeshi Ehimika, said the visit was to seek partnership with the EFCC.Meanwhile, the Office of the First Lady has denounced a report alleging that the president’s wife was not controllable by her husband, President Goodluck Jonathan, saying: “For the avoidance of doubt and the reassurance of well-meaning Nigerians as well as other well-wishers of the country around the world, we wish to state with maximum emphasis that the First Family is at peace with itself, while mutual respect, love and support enjoy pride of place.”
The Special Assistant (Media) to the First Lady, Ayo Osinlu, said in a statement, titled: “Re: Jonathan Can’t Control Patience”, that: “The First Lady, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan, has continued to carry herself with dignity and humility, in her determination to continue to represent the ideal Nigerian woman, with the exemplary values of responsibility, diligence, industry and a God-fearing heart.
“This is underlined by her attitude and views of family life, whereby she has always stressed the Godly expectation of the husband and wife in a marriage.
“For purposes of clarity, the First Lady subscribes to the principle of submission by the wife, and it is for her a lifestyle. She therefore honours her husband at all times as the crown it has pleased God to set upon her head.
“It will also be recalled how firmly she stands by her husband, offering him support and encouragement at all times. Of course, the quality of support she gave him in the build up to the recent presidential election is still the talk of the town. This, we insist, is vintage demonstration of loyalty, devotion and love.”
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