Former President Goodluck Jonathan has debunked claims by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN) that he received N5bn monthly from the pension fund. The Former President made the clarification of Saturday in a brief statement issued to newsmen in Abuja by his media adviser, Ikechukwu Eze. In the statement Jonathan said there was no iota of truth in Malami's allegation as he never collected money from the pension fund.
According to him, the allegation is “a blatant lie hurriedly cooked up to divert the attention of the general public from the raging ‘Mainagate’ and other embarrassing scandals. “We believe that the story was concocted as part of the unfolding grand design to always dodge responsibility and blame every evil act taking place in the present dispensation on the past administration. In the first place, we do not believe that Malami made such a claim because he is in a position to know that it is simply not true,” he added.
The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation recently told the Senate that Abdulrasheed Maina, the former Chairman of the Presidential Pension Task Force confided in him that a former President was receiving N5 billion from the Pension fund. He explained that the discovery of the diversion led to his sack and an attempt at his life.
The Minister stated this when he appeared before the Senate Committee investigating the circumstances that led to the reinstatement of Maina into the Federal Civil Service.
