In testimony given in front of a Federal High Court in Abuja, former State Minister for Defense Senator Musiliu Obanikoro described how N1.219 billion in cash was airlifted to aid in the election of Ayodele Fayose, a former governor of Ekiti State.
Wahab Shittu (SAN), the commission’s attorney, took Obanikoro, a witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), through the testimony process. He said the funds came from the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki’s office. He clarified that the reason the money was airlifted was because Diamond Bank, a bank that has now closed, was unable to handle the substantial amount of money.
At present, Fayose and his business, Spotless Investment Limited, are on trial for alleged N6.9 billion theft and money laundering. Obanikoro’s evidence clarifies where some of the purportedly implicated cash came from in the case.
Obanikoro claims that Fayose contacted him to ask about a message that had arrived from the NSA’s headquarters. After thereafter, Obanikoro got in touch with Dasuki, who told him that N2.2 billion had been sent to Sylvan Mcnamara Limited’s account.
Obanikoro said, “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 Gov. 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 that election.”
Obanikoro went on to say that he gave his friend Agbele instructions to deliver the money to Fayose in Ekiti State. In contrast to an earlier online article, he denied keeping any of the money for himself.
According to Obanikoro, the Sylvan Mcnamara Limited account was first formed to handle worries about terrorism in Lagos but was subsequently used to finance elections. He clarified that Taiwo Kareem opened the account, which was used to distribute election monies.
The money had to be airlifted from Lagos to Ekiti State in two installments since Diamond Bank was unable to handle the substantial amount of cash.
Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, the presiding judge, postponed the case’s resolution until February 27, 2024.
