Nigeria's President Jonathan
'could sue' over rich list
9 October 2014 Africa
Mr Jonathan's office has asked the website to
retract the claim - or face libel proceedings
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has
threatened to sue a website that listed him
as one of Africa's 10 richest leaders.
The richestlifestyle.com website ranked Mr
Jonathan sixth on its list, claiming his net worth
was about $100m (£62m).
A statement from the presidency said Mr
Jonathan's inclusion on the list had "no factual
basis" and was an attempt to portray him as
corrupt.
The president has been criticised for not declaring
his assets publicly.
In 2012, an official from the Nigerian watchdog
body, the Code of Conduct Bureau, was quoted
by Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper as saying that
the president had declared his assets - but was
not obliged by law to make the declaration public.
The statement from the presidency on
Wednesday said there had been "no significant
variation in the totality" of Mr Jonathan's assets as
declared to the bureau in 2011.
This figure, the statement said, was "a very, very
far cry from $100m figure now being bandied
about by richestlifestyle.com and other
irresponsible, copy-cat publications".
The statement said that Mr Jonathan had
"regularly declared his assets as required by
Nigerian laws" since 1999, when he first held
public office.
"He has had no personal income since 1999 other
than his official remuneration as deputy governor,
governor, vice president, acting president and
president which are matters of public record," the
statement said.
The website would face legal action unless it
retracted the article and offered an apology, the
statement said.
