Obanikoro admits giving N2.23 billion to Fayose for Ekiti poll

Former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, currently being detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has narrated how he transferred N2.23 billion to Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, for the Ekiti State election.

This amount he said was part of the N4.745 billion wired to Sylva Mcnamara by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), a company, which the anti-graft agency said was linked to Obanikoro.

Fund transfer to the company was done within seven months in 2014, he said.

Obanikoro, during interrogation said he handed $5,377,000 in cash to Fayose and N1.3billion which he said was flown to Akure airport in two chartered flights was received by Fayose’s associate, Mr. Abiodun Agbele.

He admitted that the money was sourced from the $2.1billion allotted for arms purchase at the ONSA.

However, Obanikoro denied ownership of Sylva Mcnamara that was used to transfer the funds to Fayose, during EFCC interrogation, while he defended why the money was remitted to Mcnamara.

He gave the need to ward off of a plot by Boko Haram to attack Lagos, as one of the reasons the money was remitted to Mcnamara.

While being interrogated, in company of his lawyer, Mr. James Onoja (SAN), Obanikoro was confronted with a petition from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), entitled: titled “Payment to companies with no contract awards or approval” and was dated November 28, 2015.

In the said petition, Sylva Mcnamara was No. 78 on the list of firms being investigated, as it was said it “collected the aggregate sum of N4,685,000,000 between April 4, 2014 and November 13, 2014.