Former President Goodluck Jonathan has denied owning a £15m
property in the United Kingdom.
A former Editor of the UK SUN, Kelvin Mackenzie, had said in
his weekly column on Saturday that Jonathan had bought a property in Surrey.
He had said, “I hear the aptly named Goodluck Jonathan, the
former President of oil-rich Nigeria, has bought a 12,000 square foot house on
the ultra-expensive and well protected St George’s Hill estate in Weybridge,
Surrey.
“I’m sure he gained his wealth legitimately but these houses
are £10-£15million a pop, so, perhaps the ex-President could explain where his
money came from as he has been at the forefront of the fight against his
country’s corruption. Surely, it can’t all have been good luck.”
However, Jonathan, through his media aide, Mr. Ikechukwu
Eze, denied the report and demanded a retraction from the newspaper.
The statement read in part, “Nothing could be further from
the truth. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan takes pride in the fact that he does not have
any property or accounts outside Nigeria. He stated this publicly while in
office and his commitment to Nigeria’s economy remains total even after he left
power.
“As the Nigerian President who signed the Freedom of
Information bill into law, Dr. Jonathan is well aware that the United Kingdom
is a nation with good record keeping at county and national levels and as such,
it will not take a serious and responsible media long to verify ownership of
property before rushing to the press with potentially libellous publications.
“It is hoped that this publication will correct its error
and do a retraction and that other media will likewise follow up on this story
to put the lie to the details it contains.”
Source: Punch
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