By Abubakar Imam
The herculean resolve by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) to absolve President Goodluck Jonathan and his family from past corruption allegations seems to be hitting the rocks as his close confidante and his former Commissioner for Information, Mr. Oronto Douglas once opened a can of worms on the president suggesting that the Commander-in-Chief is indeed not a saint.
EFCC Chairman, Mrs Farida Waziri had vehemently denied on Wednesday, that the First Lady. Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan was investigated of any corruption allegation, describing media reports as mischievous.
"Let me state clearly that the commission will not allow itself to be used to drag innocent people's names into crimes, cases or allegations they know nothing about", she told a visiting non-governmental organisation, the Women Empowering and Enriching Lives (WEELS).
However, Douglas, who was also a human rights activist had once revealed, according to a WikiLeaks report, that on December 18, 2006, just after the then Bayelsa state Governor, Goodluck Jonathan was named the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) presidential running mate to the late President Umaru Yar'adua, that Jonathan was well respected among Ijaw leaders for building a successful development programme in Bayelsa, and had been a good governor.
But a new WikiLeaks cable showed that surprisingly, only the day before, Mr. Douglas' true feelings about Jonathan had been different. In a conversation with an American official, Douglas described Jonathan as "part of the system of corruption that had impoverished the Niger Delta for decades."
When asked by the American for more explanation on the "successful development programme in Bayelsa", Douglas said "even his development initiative is viewed with skepticism by the populace".
He said that the outstanding corruption charges against Jonathan and his wife were troubling, and that while Jonathan enjoyed the support of the "Ijaw leaders," the "restive youth" had little respect for the "so-called leaders."
Douglas, who is now a Senior Special Assistant to Jonathan on Strategy, Research and Documentation, disclosed how close the then Governor of Rivers state, Mr. Peter Odili, came to being named ahead of Jonathan as Yar'Adua's running mate.
"It wasn't until Yar'Adua was at the podium and publicly announced Goodluck Jonathan to be his running mate that [Odili] realised he was not the PDP's vice- presidential candidate," the writer learned from Douglas.
According to the story, a friend of Douglas' who had had access to Yar'adua's speech told him that Odili's name was mentioned as the running mate, but just before the convention, it was excised.
Douglas was of the view that Odili had fallen victim of an EFCC which claimed "significant malfeasance" on his part, including an instance where N60 billion was earmarked for a gas plant project that actually cost only N20 billion."
Mr. Douglas also commented on the PDP gubernatorial candidate for Bayelsa State, whom he thought would be Timi Alaibe, who was then the Executive Director of Finance for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Alaibe, Douglas asserted, would be "the worst possible choice."
When our correspondent contacted Mr. Douglas for comment, he declined to answer phone calls nor respond to a text message sent to him.
Find details in the Wikileaks cables below from the United States Consul-General.
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written by jason Fodd, September 09, 2011
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written by Seni Young, September 09, 2011
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written by Malik, September 09, 2011
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written by ribbon11, September 09, 2011
I am always very objective in my reasoning and I would want you to analyze this; Mr. Douglas knowing that the political counsel and political officer both work together, is it possible that he would give each of them contradictory statements in a space of meeting each of these two men within 24hrs knowing fully well that they can always compare notes?
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written by Phil Smart, September 09, 2011
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written by idong, September 09, 2011
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written by segun, September 09, 2011
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written by Donald, September 09, 2011
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written by Daliah, September 09, 2011
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written by Mmayen, September 09, 2011
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written by akido TR, September 09, 2011
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written by SJ. Onu , September 10, 2011
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