A former minister of state for defence, Musiliu Obanikoro has narrated how he carried N1.29 by air for former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose in 2014.
Obanikoro also revealed that he received the money from Nigeria’s former security adviser, Dasuki, on the instructions on Fayose.
“Free and fair election is not only about counting ballots”- Doguwa
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is currently probing Fayose and his firm, Spotless Investment Limited, for their alleged involvement in a N6.9 billion money laundering case.
Obanikoro who is standing as a witness against the former governor gave in details how he airlifted more than 1 billion from Lagos to Ekiti State.
His words:
“I was a minister under Jonathan’s administration in 2014. Sometime in 2014, we were going to have an election in Ekiti State. I was saddled with the responsibility of coordinating the activities in the election.
“Some days before the election, I got a call from governor Fayose asking me if I received any message for him from ONSA, I can recall that prior to that, we had some activities among which was fundraising for the purpose of that election.
“When Mr. Fayose called, I told him I would call him later. I had a phone conversation with the NSA and was told he would get back to me. After, he got back to me that N2.2 billion was paid into the account of Sylvan Mcnamara Ltd.”
When asked about the actual source of the money, this is what he had to say:
“only the NSA can explain the source of the fund”.
“I handed over the N1.219 million cash to Agbele for onward delivery to Fayose. I did not take any money or N19 million, contrary to a publication by a Lagos-based online platform,” he said.
When asked about his relationship with Sylvan Mcnamara Ltd, he had this to say:
“the account was created to deal with the issue of Boko Haram in Lagos”.
“The account was created by Taiwo Kareem and was used for the purpose of disbursing funds for election.
“I put a call through to let Fayose know that the money had been paid.
“Diamond Bank had said it did not have the capacity to make the funds available, so we opted to airlift the funds. The funds were airlifted from Lagos in two otranches, the volume was much.
Myself, my ADC and my security orderly were there, including a top aide of Fayose to meet Mr. Agbele, the bank manager. I instructed my orderly to escort Mr Agbele and ensure the safe delivery of the money.
“We airlifted the funds from Lagos in two tranches because the aircraft could not accommodate the funds. We used two aircraft and I was in one of the aircraft,”
