Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan to Sule Lamido: Publish Evidence of My involvement in Malabu Scam Or Remain Silent

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has challenged a former Jigawa Governor, Sule Lamido, or any other persons to publish evidence linking him with the controversial Malabu Oil scam, if they had any, or forever remain silent.

The immediate past president is reacting to a report credited to Lamido in a national newspaper in which the former governor accused Jonathan of trading off the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 16 governorship election in Bayelsa State.

Recall that the APC dislodged the PDP in the state, making it the first time an opposition party takes over the stronghold of the PDP since 1999.

READ: Malabu: Jonathan Describes Bribery Allegation Reports As Recycled Falsehood

Lamido, during the interview as quoted to have said: “The leadership of the APC and the government are blackmailing Jonathan and I think I can say it anywhere that he traded this for his freedom.”

“Jonathan worked against his party because he was very, very angry with (Governor) Dickson. It was because he (Jonathan) sure knows his problem with Buhari and his government. And the issue of Malabu, I think, played a key role”.

The former president, however, in a lengthy statement on Monday by his media adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, described Lamido as “sulking skunk” to whom logic or reason meant nothing.

“It didn’t matter to him that, as a well-respected member of the society, he shouldn’t make such weighty claims against a former President if he was only guessing like he admitted.

“We do not know why Mr. Lamido chose to speak like he did, especially with such hostility, contempt, and lies against former President Jonathan. However, one thing is clear: In his anger and apparent bile-filled disposition, Mr. Lamido, an otherwise astute and erudite politician, obviously dropped the ball by electing not to speak responsibly like a statesman.

“Apparently seized by some inexplicable resentment, Lamido held on to the lie currently being pushed by a few mischief-makers to the effect that former President Jonathan helped the APC to win the last gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State.

“Unfortunately, the former Governor jumped into this convenient bandwagon of grovellers without first thinking of the burden of substantiating his claim. What to do? Orchestrate a raft of incongruent drivel of cheap lies to confuse the readers.”

According to Jonathan, the claim he described as absurd would have gained more traction in the public space if it made any sense.

“What, if we may ask Mr. Lamido, is the correlation between Jonathan supporting APC because he was angry with Governor Dickson and Jonathan supporting APC to avoid prosecution over Malabu?

“Where was Lamido and his ‘Malabu problem’ when Jonathan campaigned vigorously and helped PDP to win Bayelsa governorship election in 2015, under the same President Buhari?

“It is important to establish at this point that Mr. Lamido probably knows very little about the Malabu case, for which he was not supposed to have commented blindly.

“It bears repeating that the documents relating to the transactions and decisions of the Federal Government on the Malabo issue, during the Jonathan administration, are in the relevant Government offices, where they are accessible.”

READ: Former Pres. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan denies quitting PDP

The former president further stated that all the actions taken by his administration in relation to activities in the oil industry were legally conducted by relevant Nigerian Government officials and were carried out in the best interest of the country.

“We call on anyone, including Mr. Sule Lamido, who has any shred of evidence linking former President Jonathan to any wrongdoing in the case of the Malabu incident to waste no time in publishing such evidence or forever remain silent.”

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