A former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, on Wednesday, told Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Abuja that the sum of N1.219 billion cash was airlifted to former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, for the 2014 governorship election in the state.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has charged Fayose and his firm, Spotless Investment Limited, with money laundering in the amount of N6.9 billion.
When prosecution counsel Wahab Shittu (SAN) urged Obanikoro to shed light on the source of the claimed sum, the ex-minister stated that he did not know the source of the money and that he just learned about it from former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col Sambo Dasuki (retd).
According to a statement by the anti-graft agency on Wednesday, the ex-minister explained that the former NSA contacted him that the said money had been paid into the account of Sylvan Mcnamara Ltd.
Giving his testimony before the court, 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 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.
“The money came from the NSA. I can’t vouch for the source of the funds. 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.”
When asked about his relationship with Sylvan Mcnamara Ltd, the former minister stated that “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 tranches, the volume was much.”
When Shittu asked him about the source and what the funds were meant for, Obanikoro stated that “it was meant for our election in Ekiti. It came from Diamond Bank. N1.219bn was moved from Diamond Bank out of the N2.2bn.”
Obanikoro further informed the court that Diamond Bank in Ado Ekiti said it lacked the capacity. “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.”
Justice Dimgba thereafter adjourned the matter to February 27, 2024 for continuation of trial.