Nigeria President Rejects Claim of $100 Million Net Worth
Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan threatened legal action Thursday against a website that listed him as Africa's sixth richest head of state with a net worth of about $100 million (78 million euros).
The article on richestlifestyle.com provided little evidence to substantiate its list of Africa's eight richest presidents.
But the claims about Jonathan, who has led Africa's top oil producer since 2010, made front page news in several Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
Jonathan's inclusion in the article was "baseless and libelous," his office said in a statement.
"President Jonathan has never been a businessman or entrepreneur," it added.
"The clear and unacceptable imputation of the claim that President Jonathan is now worth about $100 million is that the president has corruptly enriched himself while in office which is certainly not the case," it said.
Jonathan's office demanded "a retraction and an unreserved apology from Richest Lifestyle.com and all those who have reproduced the offensive article," and threatened action "in courts of law within and outside Nigeria."
While there was no retraction or apology on the site, the item concerning Jonathan has been removed.
Emails to the contact address for richestlifestyle.com were not delivering on Thursday and the site's managers were not available to comment on either the research supporting the article or why the Jonathan item had been removed.
The presidency's swift response to the previously obscure website's claims highlights the sensitivity of corruption as a political issue in Nigeria.
The country's vast oil wealth has for decades been squandered by the ruling elite and Jonathan has sought to portray his administration as a departure from the corrupt regimes of the past, even if many experts say graft has hit record high levels.
Jonathan is in the coming weeks expected to announce his re-election bid for February polls and Nigeria's main opposition has already signaled that it intends to make corruption a key issue in the campaign.
Source: Agence France Presse
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