The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested Mr. Abiodun Agbele, a man described as a bosom of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State
Mr. Abiodun Agbele was arrested for his alleged role in helping Fayose to handle over N1.219bn during the Ekiti State governorship election in 2014
The money was said to have been part of the N4.7bn that was siphoned from the imprest account of the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA and deposited into the bank account of a company belonging to the sons of a former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro.
The EFCC alleged that Obanikoro conveyed about N1.219bn on an aircraft and handed it over to Agbele for onward delivery to Zenith Bank. Agbele was said to have collected the money on behalf of Fayose and paid the money into the account of Fayose, who was the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party at the time.
According to five Zenith Bank deposit slips made available by EFCC, Agbele made deposits of over N900m into his own company account and Fayose’s own.
On June 26, 2014, Agbele made a deposit of N137m into a Zenith Bank account, with Account Number 1003126654, belonging to Ayodele Fayose with teller number 0556814.
On June 17, 2014, Agbele also deposited N100m into Account Number 1010170969 belonging to Spotless Investment Limited, a company owned by Fayose and his wife, Feyisetan.
On June 18, 2014, Agbele also made a deposit of N219, 490, 000 into the account of De Privateer Limited with Account Number 1013835889 and teller number 0505890. The company allegedly belongs to Agbele.
On June 19, 2014, he also made a deposit of N300m into the same account while a third deposit of N200m was made into the same account on June 23, 2014.
Agbele’s account with Zenith Bank has since been frozen by the EFCC as well as those of Fayose and his company.
Governor Fayose admitted that Agbele was a trusted friend who paid money into his account. He, however, maintained that the money came from the management of Zenith Bank and private donations.
He said, “The management of Zenith Bank, which majorly funded my election, called me to a meeting where I was assured that the fund would be provided for my election. I was asked to nominate a trusted ally to be related with and I nominated Mr. Abiodun Agbele.
Fayose maintained that his campaign was funded by Zenith Bank and not the ONSA.
