Obanikoro Family Looking for N100m to Free Him from EFCC

Family and associates of ex-Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, are making efforts to raise N100m to release him from the detention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

A source said the family had taken a decision that the former minister would not spend another week in the detention facility of the commission.

Obanikoro flew into the country on Monday last week and has since been held by the EFCC, whose operatives have been interrogating him in connection with N4.7bn traced to Silva Mcnanamara, a company in which, the commission says he has interests.

Babajide and Gbolahan, two of Obanikoro’s sons, were said to be directors when N4.7bn was paid into the company’s accounts from the office of the National Security Adviser in 2014.

The cash is said to be part of the amount earmarked to finance the June 21, 2014 Ekiti governorship election, which Governor Ayodele Fayose won, and the November 2014 governorship poll in Osun State, which Chief Iyiola Omisore of the Peoples Democratic Party contested and lost.

A family source on Sunday said members of the family were worried about the continuing detention of Obanikoro because of his health and were moving to ensure that he meets his bail condition.

“We are concerned about his health and we are not ready to see him still in detention beyond Tuesday this week. The man’s life is more important than the money they are asking him questions about,” the source stated.

The family source confirmed that EFCC had given a condition to the former minister to raise N100m to get an administrative bail.

“If that is the only condition to see him out of detention for now, we are making efforts to raise that. You know the situation of the country, but no sacrifice is too much to make him a free man again.”

The operatives involved in the case were dissatisfied with the former minister’s explanation on how N785m was spent.

Obanikoro had said N785m was spent to procure souvenirs to promote a campaign against the Boko Haram in Lagos. And that N200m was spent on surveillance activities while another N200m and the balance of N385m were spent on logistics and operations under the supervision of the owner of McNamara, who he identified as Taiwo Kareem.

It was, however, gathered that while the EFCC did not question the claims of the ex-minister, which were backed with documentary evidence that he paid N3.88bn to Fayose and Omisore, they doubted the veracity of the claim that N785m was spent on the campaign against Boko Haram in Lagos as those in Lagos did not see any campaign against Boko Haram.