Dame Patience Jonathan is in the eye of the storm as four domestic staff whose names were used to open bank accounts for the former first lady have been arrested by the EFCC.
According to the anti-graft agency, Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited, Seagate Property Development and Investment Company Limited, Trans Ocean Property and Investment Company Limited and Globus Integrated Service Limited were the four company accounts opened with Skye bank and they collectively had $15m as the balance in their accounts.
Another $5m was found in the former first lady’s account. According to one Mr. Sammie Somiari, Patience Jonathan is the owner of the money in the accounts. He made this assertion in an affidavit deposed to on behalf of the ex-President’s wife.
Somiari went on to claim that the former Special Adviser to the President on Domestic Affairs, Waripamowei Dudafa, had opened 5 accounts for Mrs. Jonathan and that only one of them was in her name while the other 4 were opened in the names of companies belonging to Dudafa.were in the names of the domestic servants.
An EFCC detective, however, disclosed Dudafa actually opened 4 other accounts but they were in the names of the domestic servants.
“We were investigating Dudafa when we stumbled on those four companies’ domiciliary accounts opened at Skye Bank with a balance of about $15m. On further investigation, we were able to identify the directors of the companies.” he said
“When we detained the directors, we found out that they were Dudafa’s domestic servants. One of them was a houseboy while another one was a driver. Their photographs were used in opening the accounts and their signatures were forged.
“We found out that these domestic servants were completely innocent because they had no access to the accounts. We have since released them. The sole signatory to the accounts was Patience Jonathan and she was issued with a special card, which is accepted worldwide. She has a separate account, which was opened in her name and has a balance of $5m.”
The detective stated that, the lawyer and 2 Skye bank officials who helped Dudafa with the accounts are being watched closely.
“This is a clear case of fraud and there is no way the bank officials will say they did not know what was going on. They are under investigation and those found culpable will be arraigned.” he stated.
Patience Jonathan has not sat back though as she has slammed Skye Bank with a lawsuit for freezing her bank accounts and giving the EFCC vital information about her finances.
She has asked the court for damages in the sum of N200m from Skye bank over what she termed a violation of her right to own personal properties under Section 44 of the 1999 Constitution.