Musiliu Obanikoro, the former minister of state for defence, revealed on Wednesday that a sum of N1.219 billion in cash was transported by air to Ayodele Fayose, the former governor of Ekiti state, during the 2014 election.
Fayose is currently being tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), along with his company, Spotless Investment Limited, for their alleged involvement in money laundering amounting to N6.9 billion.
Obanikoro, who was testifying as a witness for the EFCC, informed Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court in Abuja that he received the money from Sambo Dasuki, the former National Security Adviser (NSA).
“I was a minister under Jonathan’s administration. Sometime in 2014, we were going to have an election in Ekiti State. Some days before the election, I got a call from governor Fayose asking me if I received any message for him from ONSA, I told him I would call him later.
“Then I had a phone conversation with the NSA and he told me that N2.2 billion was paid into the Sylvan Mcnamara Ltd account. And I handed over the N1.219 billion cash to Mr Agbele, the bank manager for onward delivery to Fayose. I didn’t take N19 million, contrary to a publication by a Lagos based online platform.”
When questioned about his connection with Sylvan Mcnamara Ltd, Obanikoro explained that the account was established to address the problem of Boko Haram in Lagos.
“We airlifted the funds from Lagos in two tranches because the aircraft could not accommodate the funds.”
The case has been adjourned by Justice Dimgba and will resume on February 27, 2024, for further trial proceedings.
