Obanikoro Files Suit Challenging Property Seizure By EFCC

A former Minister of State for Defence, Sen. Musiliu Obanikoro, has sued the EFCC for the seizure of his property.Vanguard reports he filed the suit on Wednesday at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

Obanikoro and his family are suing the commission, seeking court’s declaration that the forceful seizure of their personal effects constitutes a gross violation of their rights. The applicants include Obanikoro’s wife Moroophat, his sons Gbolahon, Babajide and his wife Fati.

The applicants are praying the court for an order, setting aside the forceful detention of their properties on June 14, 2016. They are demanding an “unreserved public apology”, as well as N100 million as general damages against the commission. The applicants are also seeking an order restraining the EFCC from arresting, detaining or harassing them or entering their premises again to seize their properties.

The EFCC had claimed that Obanikoro received suspicious payments from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) through companies linked to Obanikoro’s family. The commission said that about one million dollars was transferred from ONSA to Mob Integrated Services on March 18, 2015.

But, the family, though their lawyer Mr Lawal Pedro (SAN), said that the documents and properties seized by the EFCC had nothing to do with ONSA. They claimed that the commission violated Regulation 13 of the EFCC (Enforcement Regulation) 2010 ,which provides that it shall “apply and obtain” a court order to enter and search any premises. But the commission had told court to dismiss the suit, insisting that it acted in accordance with the provisions of the law. Justice Abdulazeez Anka has fixed March 28 for ruling.

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Dasuki: Obanikoro Returns N30m More To EFCC

A former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, has returned a fresh sum of N30m to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, with a promise to pay a balance of N417m, The Punch can confirm.

Calculations by their correspondent showed that the former minister has now returned N167m to the Federal Government.

A reliable source told  Punch correspondent that the former minister paid the money from his Diamond Bank account to the EFCC Recovered Funds Account.

The source stated, “I can confirm that Senator Obanikoro has been meeting up his part of the agreement. You will recall that last year, he promised to return a certain amount of money every quarter. He has made a payment of N30m, his first instalment in 2017. He is also reporting at the EFCC as he should.”


The ex-minister, who returned to Nigeria in October 2016, after spending about 15 months in the United States, was accused of receiving N4.7bn from the Office of the National Security Adviser under the leadership of Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.).

Obanikoro had said in his statement of oath at the EFCC that after receiving the money in 2014, he gave N1.219bn to the then governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, while N1.3bn was given to the PDP governorship candidate in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore.

He also confessed to giving Fayose a separate $5.377m at Spotless Hotel in Ekiti State in the presence of party stalwarts, including the then PDP state secretary, Mr. Tope Aluko.

Obanikoro was said to have kept about N785m for himself, which he allegedly spent while campaigning ahead of the PDP governorship primary in Lagos State, which Mr. Jimi Agbaje won.

However, the EFCC asked him to return about N584m, out of which he has returned N167m.

At the Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, Mr. Alade Sunday, a manager at Zenith Bank, narrated how Obanikoro delivered about N1.219bn to Fayose’s aide, Abiodun Agbele, for onward transmission to Fayose.

He had added that it took the cashiers about 10 days to count all the money.

Sunday had said Obanikoro flew the cash to Akure airport and the money was loaded onto bullion vans.

“When we got to the airport, we waited for some minutes before the aircraft arrived. When the aircraft offloaded its passengers, one of them appeared to me to be Senator Musiliu Obanikoro and the other one appeared to be his ADC, Adewale.

“Agbele walked up to them and had a discussion with them. Thereafter, he signalled to me to bring the van. Bags loaded with cash were loaded into the van and Obanikoro’s ADC, I and Agbele drove back to the bank,” he had stated.

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Former Minister, Obanikoro's N40m Refund Cheque to EFCC Bounces

The woes of a People's Democratic Party chieftain, Obanikoro have been compounded in the hands of the EFCC as he fails to meet the financial aspect of his bail conditions.

Musiliu Obanikoro

 

A N40 million cheque issued to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by Former Minister of State for Defense, Musiliu Obanikoro has bounced, according to Sahara Reporters.

 

It would be recalled that the politicians has been strongly linked as a beneficiary of slush funds from the embattled former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki who has been incarcerated since last year, 2015.

Mr. Obanikoro, who returned from the U.S. two weeks ago and surrendered to the anti-corruption agency following one year on the lam, wrote several cheques to the EFCC to fulfill his promise to refund part of the N4.7 billion laundered through him and his son to finance the election of Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State in 2014.

Mr. Obanikoro, also a former ambassador to Ghana, admitted to embezzling N800m of the funds and promised to refund all of it. The initial agreement with EFCC investigators was for the former minister to refund N100m as a condition for his bail from custody.

However, two weeks after his detention, Mr. Obanikoro has only succeeded in paying back N24m. He then issued a series of cheques to the recovery account of the federal government last week, but EFCC operatives detailed to process the cheques discovered that the account to which they were issued had no money.

Mr. Obanikoro blamed the error on politicians and friends who had visited him in detention and promised to deposit money in the accounts.

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