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‘See you soon,’ EFCC hints of possible N1.3b fraud investigation in Ekiti

This coming after  Fayose’s candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olushola-Eleka was defeated in the just concluded governorship election.

This coming after  Fayose’s candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olushola-Eleka was defeated in the just concluded governorship election.

Kayode Fayemiof the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been declared the winner.

Judgement day

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The EFCC, in a post on Twitter, said “The parri is over; The cloak of immunity torn apart, and the staff broken. #Ekiti Integrated Poultry Project/Biological Concepts Limited N1.3bn fraud case file dusted off the shelves. See you soon.”

EFCC accused Fayose of N680m fraud

In 2017, the EFCC accused Fayose of diverting the bailout fund given to Ekiti state by the Federal Government.

According to the agency, the Governor put N680m in a fixed deposit account that yields N6m annually for him.

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The EFCC report reads: “A total of N680m was diverted on January 25, 2016. The funds, comprising N200m from the Ekiti State Local Government salary account, N300m from the Ekiti State Pension Account and N180m from the Ekiti State FAAC Account, were first credited into the Consolidated Revenue Account in Zenith Bank on January 25, 2016, and later transferred on the same day into an account called – 2015 MDG-CGS state project – domiciled in Zenith Bank.

“Analysis of the bank statement revealed that the money was later placed in a fixed deposit, where it was yielding a monthly interest of about N6m at a time pensioners and workers in Ekiti State were owed months of unpaid entitlements.

“The detained Ekiti State Commissioner for Finance and its Accountant-General committed to assisting the commission with relevant documents before they were granted administrative bail and ordered to report back in two weeks."

Fayose, Obanikoro accused of stealing N4.7b

You will also recall that the EFCC also alleged that the Ekiti State Governor, and former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro benefited from the diverted arms fund.

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The report reads: “The entire fraud started from the company that Obanikoro’s sons were operating. The company was set up by some people but curiously made Obanikoro sons signatories to the account.

“The owner of A. A. G. B. S Oil and Gas confirmed to us that the company is a BDC but was only bearing the name of an oil company. He confirmed that he received N168m from Sylvan McNamara and $1m was delivered to Obanikoro in cash while he was the Minister of State for Defence based on the exchange rate at the time.

“Obanikoro acknowledged receipt of the cash and we have recovered evidence. Some of the remaining dollars was received by Obanikoro’s son, Gbolahan.

“On June 12, 2014, barely 10 days to the Ekiti State governorship election, Obanikoro and a man, who claimed to be his Aide-de-Camp by the name of A. O. Adewale, chartered a private jet belonging to OAS Helicopters.

“About N724,500,000 was conveyed on the plane with tail number N638MA. The plane was an HS125 jet, operated by Okin Travellers, a subsidiary of Elizade. The plane landed at Akure at 9.38am and then went back to Lagos to get an extra N494,900,000 and landed at Akure at 5.57pm.

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“Obanikoro handed the money over to one Abiodun Agbele, otherwise known as Abbey, an associate of Fayose. Officials of Zenith Bank arrived at the tarmac in a bullion van to convey all the cash to the bank’s vault, located at 13 Alagbaka Estate, Akure.

“Abbey directed the bank to pay N137m into the account of Ayodele Fayose with number 1003126654 and Bank Verification Number 22338867502. The bank teller dated June 26, 2014, was filled by Abbey with teller number 0556814.

“Abbey directed the bank to transfer N118,760,000 to the same account and paid in N50m cash into Fayose’s account. On April 7, 2015, several months later, Fayose personally moved N300m to his fixed deposit account at Zenith Bank with number 9013074033 with the same BVN. The account is domiciled at 15 Olusola Abiona Street, Estate, Alapere, Ketu, Lagos."

This led to the freezing of the Governor's Zenith bank accounts by the anti-graft agency.

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The accounts were later un-frozen following Justice Taiwo Taiwo's rulingstating  that the EFCC did not adhere to laid down regulations in ordering the bank to freeze the accounts.

Governor Ayo Fayose has consistently said that he is not moved by the allegations levelled against him by the EFCC.

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