Jonathan Gives Almost N1billion To Turai, Others As 'Severance'?

The presidency has paid nearly N1billion to the family of late President Umaru Yar'Adua, according to an official memo obtained in Abuja. The slush funds were routed through the Katsina State government, the home state of the former president.

The payment includes about N150 million to Mrs. Turai Yar'adua, as well as others to the late president's aged mother, his married daughters, and sons.

Although the controversial former First Lady has got the biggest payout, it would be recalled that it she who pushed Nigeria to the brink of a political crisis between 2009 and May 2010 while her late husband was hospitalized in Saudi Arabia.

Mrs. Yar'Adua was at the head of a cabal of Ministers, aides and security agents that manipulated the nation for many tense months as they clung to power, almost leading to the collapse of the government.

It remains unclear if Yar-adua's second wife, Hauwa Umar Radda, whom the late president divorced in 1997, benefited from the "free Nigerian money".

- Source: Sahara Reporters