Former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has reacted to reports that the federal government of Nigeria plans to subpoena him and his wife, Patience.

The statement signed by Jonathan’s spokesperson Ikechukwu Eze referenced a comment by the former President while he was swearing-in new ministers on March 5, 2014. 

“Our attention has been drawn to international media reports to the effect that the Federal Government of Nigeria has subpoenaed bank records for former President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan in the United States of America. 

“We aver that the Federal Government of Nigeria did not contact Dr Jonathan or his wife before issuing these subpoenas. If they had, we would have advised them of the fact that you cannot subpoena what does not exist.

“We also remind the public that on March 5, 2014, during the swearing-in of new ministers, then President Jonathan said “I am loyal to Nigeria’s economy. I don’t have accounts or property abroad.

“We are confident in stating that between that time and now, nothing has changed with regards to Dr Goodluck Jonathan. He has no accounts in the United States of America and encourages US authorities to cooperate fully with the Federal Government of Nigeria’s subpoena.

“We would also like to state that during his tenure as President of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Jonathan extended every courtesy to former Presidents and Heads of state because he believed and still believes that promoting, projecting and protecting Nigeria’s sovereignty and the image is the paramount duty of her government because it is not possible to belittle Nigerians without belittling Nigeria.

“Jonathan gave appropriate counsel to the incoming government in the handover notes of 2015, which advice if carried out, would have prevented the current unfortunate circumstances,” the statement added.

GEJ’s statement is coming in response to Bloomberg’s report that the federal government requested for “all documents concerning any transactions to, from, or for the benefit” of Jonathan and his wife between 2009 and the present day.

The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, was quoted saying “There is good reason to believe that ministers at the highest level were involved in a corrupt scheme to steal money from Nigeria.”