N4.7b fraud: Obanikoro agrees to testify against Fayose, Agbele
A former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, he agreed to testify against Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and his aide, Abiodun Agbele, sources from the the Abuja office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissionhas said.
According to a top official of the anti-graft agency, Obanikoro came to the EFCC office on Monday morning as part of investigations into the N4.7bn, and has confessed that he was the one who collected the N4.7bn and distributed it and that he is in the best position to testify in court.
New Mail cites a sources as saying, “The EFCC wants him to testify against Agbele which will also build a strong case against Fayose who currently enjoys immunity. Obanikoro has agreed and will be listed as one of the EFCC witnesses.
“If Agbele is convicted, it automatically means that Fayose will also be convicted once he is charged in 2018. So let Fayose continue to play games. Omisore and Obanikoro are cooperating and returning money. Their troubles will end soon while Fayose's own will keep getting worse,” the source said.
However, another source said that the EFCC could still charge Obanikoro to court if he failed to cooperate with the EFCC, stating that he has returned N104m and has pledged to return N480m in instalments every four months but if he cannot cooperate with the EFCC, then he and his sons may be charged along with the others.
Obanikoro had told the EFCC in his statement of oath that he received N4.7bn from the Office of the National Security Adviser under the leadership of Col. Sambo Dasuki in June 2014.
In his statement, the ex-minister told the EFCC that he handed N1.3bn to the then governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore; while N1.219bn was given to Fayose through his aide, Agbele, during the build-up to the Ekiti governorship election which Fayose won.
Obanikoro was said to have converted a remainder of the money into $5.377m and handed it to Fayose at Spotless Hotel, Ado Ekiti, in the presence of the then Ekiti State PDP Secretary, Tope Aluko, and other party stalwarts.
The ex-minister is believed to have kept about N785m for himself, an action which is said to have angered Fayose.
Agbele is currently standing trial before Justice Dimgba Igwe of a Federal High Court for allegedly receiving N1.219bn on behalf of Fayose.
At the last sitting, Alade Sunday, a manager and branch Head of Zenith Bank, narrated how the money was disbursed on the instructions of Agbele.