Former President Goodluck Jonathan has denied reports that he attempted to bribe Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha ahead of the 2015 Presidential election.

Jonathan was reacting to an allegation that he offered Okorocha “huge sums of money and an influential ministry” to join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In a statement by his spokesman, Ikechukwu Eze, Jonathan said;

• He never had such conversation with Okorocha.
• The ex-President did not need Okorocha to win in the South East.

“We offer to quickly dismiss these claims as lies, because we are clear in our minds that such conversation never happened,” Jonathan said.

“We are wondering whether this truly came from the governor because we are sure that even governor Okorocha himself did not believe that anybody would accept these claims.

“In the first place, it sounded irrational and absurd. Besides, it was obvious to all and sundry that the south-east, being Dr. Jonathan’s political stronghold, the ex-President did not need Okorocha to win in the zone.

“However, to set the records straight, we make bold to say that former President Jonathan never made any contact with Okorocha, ahead of the 2015 elections.

“All those who had either worked closely with him in any capacity, or served in Jonathan’s administration can bear testimony to the fact that idle talk is not his style.

“Since we know that the only proof the purveyors of this bribery allegation could offer is to probably claim that the transaction happened in a dream, we can only offer the governor sincere advice, to avoid rumours and twaddle, and get down to the business of result-oriented governance.

“Governor Okorocha would have served his state better, if he directed his enormous drive to creating growth and development opportunities for the good people of Imo state, rather than allowing himself to be drawn into dissipating his energy on platitudes and propaganda.”