Jonathan: I did NOT receive N300m, cars from David Lyon

March 11, 2020 9:23 am

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan speaks during an interview with Reuters in New York, September 26, 2012. Nigeria's "robust" approach to neutralizing a threat posed by Islamist sect Boko Haram using military force, holding indirect talks with the group and improving education in the north is paying off, the Nigerian president said on Wednesday. To match Interview UN-ASSEMBLY/NIGERIA REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR38GYR

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has denied receiving money or cars from the All Progressives Congress (APC) or any of its members.

In a statement on Wednesday, Jonathan said he did not receive N300 million or bulletproof cars from David Lyon, the APC governorship candidate in Bayelsa, as was alleged.

The statement, which was signed by Ikechukwu Eze, Jonathan’s spokesman, attributed the allegation to the APC Reformation Forum which he said claimed the offerings were to help the former president prepare for Lyon’s botched swearing-in as governor.

Eze quoted the group as calling on his principal to “refund N300 million and bulletproof cars given to him by David Lyon, the APC candidate in the last governorship election”.

He described the claim as fictitious and provocative, and asked anyone with any proof to tender it.

“In the first place there was no reason for APC or anybody else to offer money and vehicles to the former President for logistics over an inauguration programme in which he was not involved,” the statement read.

“We make bold to state that there is no vehicle in the possession of former President Jonathan given to him by the All Progressive Congress. This is an insufferable lie. If anyone on earth knows of such a vehicle, they should expose the particulars of the said vehicle to the public.

“The claim by this group is therefore nothing but a fairy-tale scripted to tarnish the good reputation of the former President whom Nigerians and the rest of the world hold in very high esteem.”

Eze added that the allegation is a part of a “growing culture of sustained falsehood” against Jonathan and his family.

“It is a poor script written with the intention of causing distrust and inciting Bayelsans against themselves,” he said.

“What Bayelsa needs now is peace, unity and progress, and not this noxious orgy of mud-slinging and mischief-making.

“As far as we are concerned, the Bayelsa elections have been won and lost at the polls and the courts; we therefore urge all groups to accept the transition in good faith.”