The pan Igbo socio political group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo youth wing, has insisted that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is trying to convict wife of the former President, Goodluck Jonathan, Patience Jonathan at all cost.
Recall that the anti-graft agency had recently confirmed that Mrs Jonathan is being investigated for money laundering, but no case has been instituted against her in any court yet.
The Commission took a step further in its ongoing investigations by freezing her personal account in Skye Bank Plc, titled ‘Patience Ibifaka Jonathan.’
In her defence, Mrs Jonathan claimed the money was meant for her medical treatment abroad, and asked EFCC to defreeze the account or face legal action.
But, Ohanaeze’s National President, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, in a statement criticised the commission for subjecting its suspects to media trial without thorough investigations.
According to Isiguzoro, “The EFCC is simply persecuting ex first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan. She has already been found guilty without trial in a court of competent jurisdiction. This is unhealthy for our democracy. EFCC is clearly running a campaign of calumny intended to convict Dame Patience Jonathan at all cost. The former first lady is yet to be tried in court, yet the EFCC has been treating her as a criminal. This strategy of trial in the media must stop.
“To fight corruption, the process must be thorough and not selective. EFCC is not a court and must submit to the laws of the land. The haste to rush to the media to vilify suspects is responsible for the low number of convictions recorded by the EFCC.
“If we may ask, where are the wives of former first ladies including past Nigerian leaders who were at various times accused of corruption? Why can’t they be investigated? We can only take EFCC serious as anti graft agency when it investigates the likes of ex-Presidents, Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Olusegun Obasanjo, including late ones.”
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