Patience Jonathan writes EFCC, says $15m in her accounts are for medical bills, others

Former first lady, Patience Jonathan, has written a letter to the EFCC explaining the $15 million embedded in her account.

In a letter with reference number GA/Abibo/00226/2016, written by her lawyers, Granville Abibo (SAN) and Co, and addressed to the Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, the former first lady said the $15 million which has been seized by the antigraft agency, was for her medical bills and other personal expenses.

The letter read in part; "It is noteworthy to emphasise that the said accounts, which were in US dollar denomination, were card-based accounts and our client is the sole signatory to these accounts.

However, our client has been operating the said accounts using the cards for her medical bill payments and purchases for her private purposes without any let or hindrance.

Our client was therefore surprised when the said cards stop functioning on July 7, 2016, or thereabout. Our client immediately, thereupon, contacted Skye Bank Plc through our solicitors.

It was only then that the bank officials informed our client that the said accounts were placed on a ‘No Debit Order’ following investigations and instruction from your commission and this is without notice to our client by either the bank or the commission. It is in the light of the foregoing that we urge you to use your good offices to vacate the ‘No Debit/Freezing Order’ placed on the said accounts.”

Patience also stated in the letter that the operatives of the antigraft agency have refused to acknowledge her explanation

“Despite the foregoing, our client, who is a law-abiding citizen, has watched with surprise how efforts are being made surreptitiously to indirectly harass or harangue her and short-change her of her personal funds in breach of her fundamental human rights.

We urge you sir, to kindly intervene to stop the untoward and wrongful actions of your officials to embarrass, inconvenience and short-change our client.”.

Patience Jonathan during her husband's time in office had seven surgeries within a month for an undisclosed ailment in Germany. During a thanksgiving service in February 2013, she revealed that she lost consciousness for ‎a week during one of her surgeries, adding that the doctors had given up hope on her survival.