EFCC interrogates ex-minister's wife over alleged N4.745bn fraud

dimeji akinloye

July 15, 2016 8:54 AM

The DSS, according report, moved to arrest Mrs. Obanikoro following information that she sneaked into the country last weekend from the United States.

Operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) on Thursday, July 14, arrested

She was said to have been picked up in connection to the corruption allegations against her husband, who is wanted for questioning over the N4.745 billion funds he reportedly received from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

The ex-minister's wife was however released on bail after the DSS transferred her to the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) - her international passport was confiscated and asked to return on Monday, July 18, for interrogation.

The DSS, according to report, moved to arrest Mrs. Obanikoro following information that she 'quietly' arrived in the country last weekend from the United States.

“We got a report that Mrs. Obanikoro had sneaked into the country from the United States. After the confirmation of her travel log, an alert was issued to all security agencies," a source told the newspaper.

“Following intelligence sharing with the EFCC, the operatives of the DSS arrested her in Lagos with some documents relating to the probe of the N4.745billion slush funds from ONSA. Another source spoke of excitement about Mrs. Obanikoro’s arrest because “some of the funds under investigation were wired into her company, which is called MOB.

“She needs to explain to this commission what job she did to deserve such remittance into her account”.

The source further said: “Mrs. Obanikoro had sued the EFCC for the enforcement of fundamental human rights for allegedly harassing her tenants and in-laws during the course of investigating her husband.”

READ: "I will not honour EFCC's invitation," Obanikoro blows hot

The N4.745 billion cash was sourced from the SAS Imprest Account of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) under ex-NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) prior to the conduct of Ekiti State governorship poll on June 21, 2014.

dimeji akinloye