Following a raid on the home of Musiliu Obanikoro in Ikoyi, Lagos, an operative of the EFCC has given a breakdown of how the ex Minister of State for Defence allegedly received N4.75bn to rig Ekiti state governor Ayodele Fayose into office in 2014.
The commission said it traced N4.75bn Sylvan McNamara Limited, a firm which Obanikoro’s sons are allegedly the directors.
The money was said to have been paid in several tranches into the company’s account number 0026223714 with Diamond Bank from the Office of the National Security Adviser account with the Central Bank of Nigeria. EFCC sources said the payments were made without any contract.
According to the EFCC, all the transfers were made between June and December 2014, a period that coincided with the preparation for and the conduct of the Ekiti State governorship election, which was won by Governor Ayodele Fayose.
Giving a breakdown of how the money was paid, an EFCC source said N200m was transferred into Sylvan McNamara’s account on June 5, 2014, while N2bn was also wired into the account from the CBN/ Imprest main account on June 16, 2014.
Another transfer of N700m hit the account on July 7, 2014, while N1bn was credited to the account on July 30, 2014.
Other transfers included N160m on August 8, 2014; N225m on August 22, 2014; N200m on November 14, 2014 and N200m on December 5, 2014.
Both Gbolahan and Babajide Obanikoro, sources disclosed, as directors of the company, were also signatories to its account until 2014 when one Olalekan Ogunseye was made the sole signatory to the account.