The entire
exercise was said to have been captured on a Closed Circuit Television.
According to
the EFCC, the N1.2bn was part of the N4.7bn paid into the company account of
Obanikoro’s sons by the Office of the National Security Adviser during the
build-up to the Ekiti and Osun states governorship election in 2014.
Otuyalo, who
is the Head of Cash-in-Transit Services, told detectives that his duty was to
evacuate excess cash from bank’s branches and move it to locations where money
was needed.
The bank
official was quoted to have said, “The beneficiaries were not available to be
paid as I did not see them and I was later directed by Mr. Premier Oiwoh to
move the money to the airport where I will be given further instruction.
“We moved the
cash to the airport through the Cash-In-Transit vendor, Bankers Warehouse
Limited. I contacted the vendor who made the bullion van available for
movement. I personally supervised the loading of the money into the bullion van
and escorted them to the airport.”
Otuyalo said
on getting to the airport around 7am, he was not allowed into the private wing
because he and the security detail did not have a gate pass.
He said a few
minutes later, Obanikoro’s son came to the main gate and asked the security to
let the bullion van in.
The bank
official further stated, “When Gbolahan got to the gate, he cleared us and we
drove in. My boss, Mr. Premier Oiwoh, called me on the telephone and confirmed
to me that Obanikoro was the beneficiary of the money.
“I handed my
phone over to Gbolahan and he spoke to my boss. Obanikoro came to meet us at
the private wing with two policemen and some friends. I recognised Obanikoro
very well because he is popular.”
Otuyalo told
detectives that due to the large amount of money involved, it took them several
hours to offload the cash unto the aeroplane.
He explained
that it took three aeroplanes to carry all the money.
Detectives
told Punch correspondent that the N1.2bn was flown to Akure Airport and
Obanikoro allegedly handed over the money to an associate of Ekiti State
Governor, Ayodele Fayose, Mr. Abiodun Agbele, who had since been detained by
the EFCC.
Punch
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