President Muhammadu Buhari has refuted an allegation by demonstrators in Bayelsa on Thursday that allowances due to former President Goodluck Jonathan had been stopped and his bank accounts frozen.
Speaking through a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, on Friday the President said that the allegation was “patently untrue”.
He said it was on record that all past presidents were paid their various allowances up to the second quarter of 2016.
“We have confirmed with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) that the former president and the other past leaders were paid their allowances up to the second quarter.
“The past leaders have not been paid third quarter allowances but will get their dues when remittances are received by the SGF from the Ministry of Finance,” the statement said.
Buhari also described as untrue the alleged closure of former President Jonathan’s accounts, saying that the “story of account closure is false. It is not known to the investigation agencies”.
“The National Security Adviser is not aware of this bank account closure; the Director General of the State Security Service (SSS) is unaware of it, the EFCC is unaware and the IG of Police is not in the know,” the statement said.
“With all of these agencies not being involved, how then could a thing like that happen? In a dream perhaps!’’
According to him, there is a clear motive for the demonstration that is different from that which was being canvassed.
He said the demonstration was a premeditated attempt to “blame President Buhari for something he knows nothing about”.
The President said the claims were false and poorly sourced to present a picture of vendetta, and they should be disregarded by well-meaning members of the public.
He said he remains committed to the ideals of justice and fairness to all, irrespective of creed, religion and political leanings, maintaining that his administration would not engage in vendetta.
