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.”
Tags
Society