Musiliu Obanikoro, the former minister of state for defence, revealed on Wednesday that a sum of N1.219 billion was transported to Ekiti state ex-governor, Ayodele Fayose during the 2014 election. Fayose is currently facing trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, alongside his company, Spotless Investment Limited, over their alleged involvement in N6.9 billion money laundering.

During his testimony as a witness of the EFCC, Obanikoro informed Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Abuja, that he received the money from former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki. Obanikoro explained that the funds were airlifted from Lagos to Ekiti in two tranches due to the aircraft’s capacity constraints.

“I was a minister under Jonathan’s administration. Sometime in 2014, we were going to have an election in Ekiti State. Some days before the election, I got a call from governor Fayose asking me if I received any message for him from ONSA, I told him I would call him later. Then I had a phone conversation with the NSA and he told me that N2.2 billion was paid into the Sylvan Mcnamara Ltd account. And I handed over the N1.219 billion cash to Mr Agbele, the bank manager for onward delivery to Fayose. I didn’t take N19 million, contrary to a publication by a Lagos based online platform.”

Regarding his association with Sylvan Mcnamara Ltd, Obanikoro mentioned that “the account was created to deal with the issue of Boko Haram in Lagos.”

The case has been adjourned to February 27, 2024, for the continuation of the trial.