BREAKING NEWS, Politics
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MUSILIU Obanikoro, former minister of State for Defence, has reportedly agreed to return N480m out of the N4.7 billion which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, said he should account for. It was learnt that Obanikoro had returned N100 million to the government coffers out of the whole sum, but the Commission reportedly said he must refund at least N600 million before he could be granted bail.
“He has returned N100m and has pledged to return N480m. The actual balance is meant to be N685m, but he was able to provide receipts for some transactions. He paid N85m to someone and that person has been traced.
“He also bought some bulletproof vehicles when he was minister and they will be handed over to the EFCC. The cost of the vehicles will be deducted from the amount that should be returned. Having met the conditions, he should be released any time from now,” a source close to the EFCC said.
According to the Commission, Obanikoro claimed that he used part of his own share of the money to do an anti-Boko Haram campaign in Lagos in 2014. But the EFCC was said to have discovered that this was not so and that some of the money was spent on his governorship campaign when he was contesting against Jimi Agbaje during the PDP primary. “So, we asked him to return his own share of the money and he has promised to do so.”
In the meantime, Obanikoro was said to have surrendered his Nigerian and American passports to the EFCC.
In his statement to the commission some week ago, Obanikoro admitted giving Governor Ayodele Fayose N2.23 billion and $5,377,000 in cash while Abiodun Agbele, his associate, got N1.3 billion. He also admitted that the N1.3 billion was flown to Akure, airport in two chartered flights for delivery to Agbele. The former minister said he also gave N1.7 billion to Iyiola Omisore, a former deputy governor, Osun State, but did not say what the money was meant for. The money was allegedly sourced from the $2.1billion meant for arms purchase at the ONSA. But Fayose has spit fire over Obanikoro’s revelations and accused the EFCC of bringing him from the US under an arrangement to give him a ‘soft landing’ and use him to nail him (Fayose) and others named in the arms scam.
— Nov 14, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT
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