“We Airlifted N1.219b To Ekiti For Fayose In Two Tranches” — Obanikoro Tells Court

How we airlifted N1.219 billion in two installments to Ekiti for Fayose Mr. Obanikoro, the state minister of defense

On Wednesday, November 29, 2023, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, a former minister of state for defense, explained to Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Abuja, how N1.219 billion in cash was airlifted to former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose in preparation for the state's governorship election.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, is putting Fayose and his company, Spotless Investment Limited, on trial for their alleged roles in the money laundering of N6.9 billion.

Obanikoro said that former National Security Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), was the one who contacted him to inform him that the aforementioned money had been paid into the account of Sylvan Mcnamara Ltd. in response to Wahab Shittu, SAN, the prosecution attorney, asking him to clarify the source of the aforementioned N1.219 billion.

According to EFCC, he said: “I was a minister under Jonathan 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 fund raising for the purpose of that election.

“I had a phone conversation with the NSA, he told 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 N1.219million cash to Agbele for onward delivery to Fayose. I did not take any money or N19million, contrary to a publication by a Lagos-based online platform.

“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.

“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.”