Stop ‘media trial’ of Patience Jonathan, rights lawyers tell EFCC

A group of human rights lawyers, yesterday, called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to put an end to the “media trial” of former First Lady, Patience Jonathan.

Addressing reporters on behalf of the group, in Abuja, Ugochukwu Osuagwu, said they were not against investigating and prosecuting the former First Lady, but that it had to be done in line with the law, and not on the pages of newspapers or the Internet.

Osuagwu said the $31.4 million released to the public is not the correct figure of what is in the said Skye Bank account owned by Mrs. Jonathan.

He said: “The actual figure is $8.2 million. This is the correct amount, not $20m, not $31.4m released to the public. We wish to state that the story of the EFCC, and as published by various media concerning Mrs. Jonathan and Skye bank, is false, malicious and does not reflect the true picture of what transpired.”

“We are not against the fight against corruption by the EFCC, but let it be done with decency. It must not be seen as unleashing vendetta, vindictiveness and carefully planned and rehearsed acts of witch-hunt against Mrs. Jonathan.

“We, as concerned citizens, termed this media trial a complete defamation of character against the past wpresident. Remember what goes around comes around. With the recent development, a bad precedent is being laid down.”