FORMER president Dr Goodluck Jonathan has dismissed reports that he is currently in exile neighbouring Ivory Coast where he fleeing from arrest from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Internationally praised for accepting the results of the last presidential election and standing down after losing to incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, Dr Jonathan, has kept a low profile since leaving office. However, his government was wracked with corruption and investigations into what went on shows that large sums of public cash were diverted into private accounts by his officials.
Over the last week, it has been reported Dr Goodluck Jonathan has taken up residence in Ivory Coast in what appears to be him moving into permanent exile. However, this has been denied by the former president, who said that he is just visiting the country.
Dr Jonathan said: “I’m not on exile and I have no cause to go on exile. It is a wicked and malicious report.
“I was vice president for two years and president for six years during which I did everything I could and I served my country very well. This is what they keep saying anytime I’m outside the country.
"I was in Ecuador, they said I was on exile and this is my second time in Ivory Coast and I’m rounding off my visit. It is a wicked attempt to link me with the renewed Niger Delta crisis.”
He added that he could not have been running away from any problem in the country let alone going on exile. Although the EFCC said Dr Jonathan had been implicated in all transactions under its investigation, the ex-president was not yet its target.
Former minister of national planning, Professor Suleiman Abubakar, the ex-president said Dr Jonathan was only in transit in Ivory Coast. He said Dr Jonathan actually spent his Christmas break in Ivory Coast and his visit to this country is not new.
One EFCC source said: “The ex-president has been implicated in all transactions we are investigating and he was virtually involved in everything. We are building up our investigations but he is not the target, so we cannot say we are not after him in terms of some transactions he approved.”
According to the EFCC source, the federal government is concerned about the report and it is trying to verify it. He added that this may involve relating with sister security agencies in Ivory Coast, the government there and the Nigerian embassy in Abidjan.
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