Barring last minutes change, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, a former Minister of State for Defense has concluded plan to dump the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP for the ruling, All Progressives, APC, News Punch has learned exclusively.
Koro, as he is fondly called by his admirers has also settled whatever rift he had with his former political godfather, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, multiple sources, very close Tinubu camp, but who pleaded not to be named has confided in News Punch reporter in Lagos.
A source said that the former Minister has also reunited with Tinubu as he returned to the country after long study vacation in the United States following former President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 defeat.
The source further disclosed that, barring last minutes change, the former minister have concluded plan vie for the Lagos West Senatorial seat by 2019, a seat presently occupied by Senator Solomon Adeola.
Already, Obanikoro’s allies, friends, and political associates have begun to attend APC ward meetings across the state, pending the official defection of their principal which will come up soon, New punch learned reliably.
“Forget the past, Koro and Asiwaju are now best of friends, in fact, he is planning to return to the Senate by 2019 under the APC flag.
Senator Obaniro who had in recent time enmeshed in over N2.3billion fraud with Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, also agreed to testify against his friend, (Fayose), in a fraud saga involving billions of naira
Despite the earlier denial, Obanikoro on return from study vacation from the US admitted to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission that he gave the sum of N2.3bn to the Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, in the run-up to the Ekiti State governorship election in 2014.
Obanikoro was said to have also told operatives that N60m was converted to dollars at N168 per to a dollar and given to Fayose.
Musiliu Obanikoro was elected senator for Lagos Central in April 2003, running for the Alliance for Democracy (AD).During the election, each side accused the other of hijacking ballot boxes. He later defected to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
In April 2007 Musiliu Obanikoro ran for governor of Lagos State on the PDP ticket but lost the election to Babatunde Fashola of the Action Congress. His nomination as PDP candidate was controversial. Hilda Williams, widow of the murdered Engineer Funsho Williams, had been declared winner of the Lagos PDP primaries, but the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) led by Ahmadu Ali gave the ticket to Obanikoro. The disunited PDP under Bode George also lost the Lagos State Senate and all but one House of Representatives and 37 State House of Assembly seats to the APC.
