An Abuja High Court has ordered the wife of former Minister of state for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, Moroophat Obanikoro, to forfeit her property in Abuja to the Federal government pending the outcome of investigations being carried out by EFCC on the financial transactions of her husband and children.
According to Sahara Reporters, as part of investigations into the $2.1bn arms scam, involving the Office of the National Security Adviser, the EFCC had traced the transfer of about N4.7bn to the Diamond Bank account of Sylvan McNamara, a company allegedly owned by Obanikoro’s two sons – Gbolahan and Babajide. Out of the N4.7bn, Obanikoro allegedly gave N3.880bn to Ayodele Fayose and Senator Iyiola Omisore in July 2014, when they were PDP governorship candidates in Ekiti and Osun states respectively.
Part of the money allegedly given to Fayose was said to have been converted to $5.377m and handed to him at Spotless Hotel, Ado-Ekiti, in the presence of the then Ekiti State PDP Secretary, Tope Aluko, and other party stalwarts. Obanikoro allegedly kept over N600m to himself.
The EFCC subsequently seized a house in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State allegedly belonging to Obanikoro’s sons – Gbolahan and Babajide as well as a property located at 44 Mamman Kotangora Crescent, Katampke Extension, Abuja, reportedly belonging to their mother. Obanikoro’s wife claims to have bought the properties seven years before the scam took place and that the EFCC had no right to punish her for any crime allegedly committed by her husband and urged the court to award her N200m.
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