Former President Goodluck Jonathan has denied a claim by the deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, that the former President allegedly offered him a $5m bribe during the 2015 campaigns.
Hamzat, who had reportedly made the allegation at the launch of the (APC governorship candidate, Babajide) Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat Advocates held at Fidimaye Hall, Oko-Oba, Abule-Egba, Lagos on Friday, said he rejected the offer.
But Jonathan, in a statement by his media adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, refuted the claim, describing Hamzat as an obscure character in the politics of 2015.
He said, “Our attention has been drawn to a claim by the running mate of the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr Obafemi Hamzat, that he rejected a $5m bribe from former President Goodluck Jonathan during the 2015 elections.
“There is no better way to respond to this frivolous claim than to quickly dismiss it as a blatant lie apparently concocted by a wannabe politician desperate for votes in a campaign season. In the first place, this character is an obscure individual who in 2015 had neither a recognisable name nor political clout.”
According to the statement, Jonathan has never met “this man who was obviously not relevant in the national politics of 2015, let alone seek to offer him bribe.”
“Assuming anybody had $5m to spend to better his political fortune, as Mr Hamzat claimed, why seek to waste it on a man who was just a commissioner prior to 2015, and whose best outing so far is to function as a hand-picked running mate to a governorship candidate in the forthcoming 2019 elections?
“His is obviously the antics of a desperate and dishonest politician seeking to apply subterfuge and outright lies, believing that such could boost his lowly image, win him public sympathy and, possibly, votes.”
