FG Will Not Prosecute Jonathan and Patience – Mohammed

FG Will Not Prosecute Jonathan and Patience – Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said the Federal Government, under President Muhammadu Buhari, is not persecuting former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience.

Mohammed told journalists in Oro, Kwara State, on Tuesday that it would be wrong to say that the Federal Government was probing Jonathan or Patience.

He said, “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.

“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.”

The minister said the Federal Government was concerned about the current national economic recession and had initiated measures to address it.

He stated that the current campaign of the Federal Government, ‘‘Change begins with me,’’ was not only for the people but also for the leaders.

Mohammed also said it was incorrect to accuse Buhari’s government of being partisan, selective and vindictive in its anti-corruption war.

He said Buhari would also not spare any APC member accused or guilty of corruption.

He said, “People have always said that no APC politician had been investigated. The question is ‘those who are those being prosecuted today, for what reasons are they being prosecuted?

“It is wrong to say that the government is only investigating and prosecuting PDP members. We have not even started investigating the oil and gas industry. It is not about going out to investigate PDP. No!”