Jonathan has not embezzled public funds – Abati

Dr. Reuben Abati, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Mr. President  Goodluck Jonathan, has maintained that the President has never embezzled any public funds since he became the nation’s president.
Abati made this known during a programme on Channels Television, while also reacting to questions on the listing of President Jonathan as the 6th richest African presidents. Abati said, the website which published that Jonathan was worth $100m, deliberately wanted to paint a corrupt picture about the president. He described President Jonathan as an honest man. “What that Internet site and those copy-cat media houses tried to do was to give the impression that the President is corrupt.Continue...
The site even said the leaders they had listed stole their people’s wealth. It’s absolutely untrue. President Jonathan has not stolen anybody’s wealth. “He is a very honest and decent man. Those who know him know that he is not in office to amass wealth but to serve Nigerians to the best of his ability and to leave a legacy that the present and the next generation would be proud of,” he said. Recall that after the publication, listing President Jonathan as one of the richest Presidents in Africa, some Nigerians demanded for the President to publicly declare his asset. In response to this, Abati said Jonathan would not go against the law to declare his assets publicly. “President Jonathan has dutifully complied with regulations and has declared his assets, every year and at all occasions. If anyone wants to find out, President Jonathan does not have $100m either in cash or in assets. “He has always declared his assets but the law does not require any public official to declare his asset publicly. The body that is in charge of declaration of assets is the Code of Conduct Bureau. “The President has done what is required; anybody who is looking for information on his assets should know that the appropriate place to go is the Code of Conduct Bureau. You don’t expect the President to go against the law and do a public declaration,” he stated.