Patience Jonathan must explain source of wealth –CACOL

Ramon Oladimeji 

A civil society organisation, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, has said the wife of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience, must explain how she came about the funds with which she built a N10bn hotel in Bayelsa State.

Patience inaugurated the hotel, which is known as Aridolf Resort Wellness and Spa, Yenagoa, in April 2015, about a month before the end of her husband’s tenure.

According to a UK business newspaper, The Financial Times, the hotel, which has imported state-of-the-art furniture, can compete with other luxury hotels in developed countries.

But CACOL, which recalled in a statement on Tuesday that Patience was only a Permanent Secretary in Bayelsa State at a time, said the ex-President’s wife must be made to explain the source of her wealth.

The statement released by the group’s acting Media Officer, Abiodun Rabiu, quoted the Executive Chairman of CACOL, Debo Adeniran, as saying that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission needed no further petition to invite Patience for questioning.

The group said apart from explaining how she made the money to build the world-class hotel, she must also tell Nigerians how she came about the $20m found in five bank accounts linked to her.

The EFCC had since frozen four out of the five bank accounts domiciled in Skye Bank in the course of probing an ex-Special Adviser to ex-President Jonathan on Domestic Affairs, Waripamowei Dudafa, for money laundering.

Patience, however, filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit against the EFCC and Skye Bank, laying claim to the frozen funds.