Jonathan was reported by a national newspaper to have said that the church building was donated to his home community of Otueke, Bayelsa State, by Gitto Construzioni Generali Nigeria Limited following his complaint that the old church building in the village was unbefitting of a president's village.
Already, one of the rights groups questioning the propriety of the gift, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to probe the donation of the church building that has capacity to seat 2,500 at a time to Jonathan's Otueke community.
The Executive Director of SERAP, Mr. Adetokunbo Mumuni, in a petition to the Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Larmode, in Abuja on Monday said the President confirmed during the dedication of the church building that it was donated to him by the Italian construction firm.
The donation, according to SERAP, violates Section 6 of the Code of Conduct for public officers embodied in the First Schedule of the 1999 constitution and the Code of Conduct and Tribunal Act (CAP C15) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The section provides that, "A public officer shall not ask for or accept any property or benefits of any kind for himself or any other person on account of anything done or omitted to be done by him in the discharge of his duties.
"For the purposes of subsection (1) of this subsection, the receipt by a public officer of any gifts or benefits from commercial firms, business enterprises or persons who have contracts with the Government shall be presumed to have been received in contravention…unless the contrary is proved."
According to them, the donation has the propensity to compromise Jonathan and constitute a blow to transparency and anti-corruption fight.
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