Former
minister of state for Defence, Sen. Musiliu Obanikoro who recently returned to
the country to honour invitation by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission has allegedly told (EFCC) that N1. 2 billion was transfered to Ekiti
Governor Ayodele Fayose, in 2014, from
the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) for the governorship
election.
A report
from Daily sun has it that Obanikoro, who is still in EFCC custody
reportedly said the cash was wired into
a company, Sylva Mcnamara’s bank account within seven months, in 2014.
A source
within the commission said the ex- minister was confronted with
water-tight evidence of movement of funds from the ONSA, allegedly using
companies belonging to his children, Babajide and Gbolahan as fronts. Obanikoro,
who reportedly opened up in EFCC custody, however, insisted he is not the owner
of Sylva Mcnamara, the company which was used to transfer N4.7 billion in 2014.
The
former minister also said N1.3 billion was given to Senator Iyiola Omisore, who
was governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for Osun
State election.
Obanikoro
was shown proof of how he directed sharing of money to accounts of six Bureaux
de Change, in Abuja.
“We
confronted him with evidence gathered before he submitted himself for
questioning. It is left to him to defend himself,” the source stated further.
And
Obanikoro did defend himself. He allegedly said money was remitted to Mcnamara “to ward off Boko
Haram aggression in Lagos and in the South-West in general.”
Accompanied
by his lawyer, Mr. James Onoja, the ex-Minister was confronted with a petition
from ONSA which was dated November 28, 2015. The petition was titled “Payment
to companies with no contract awards or approval.”
He
said having gone through the petition, he discovered that Sylva Mcnamara was
No. 78 on the list of firms being investigated having “collected the aggregate
sum of N4,685,000,000 between April 4, 2014 and November 13, 2014.
On
how the cash was transferred to Fayose,
Obanikoro told investigators that “two flights were used to convey the
money from Lagos…”
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