How Fayose’s Aide, Abiodun Agbele Coordinated The Evacuation Of N1.2bn Cash – Witness Tells Court

How Fayose’s Aide, Abiodun Agbele Coordinated The Evacuation Of N1.2bn Cash – Witness Tells Court

The trial of Abiodun Agbele, an aide to a former governor of Ekiti
State, Ayodele Fayose, continued on March 28, 2019, with a prosecution
witness narrating how he coordinated the movement of the N1.2bn slush
fund, in the build-up to the Ekiti governorship election in 2014.

Agbele is standing trial before Justice Nnamdi Dimg alt=’How Fayose?s
aide, Abiodun Agbele coordinated the evacuation of N1.2bn cash –
Witness tells court’ class=’img-responsive text-center’ style=’margin:
auto;’ba of a Federal High Court, Abuja, along with three companies –
Sylvan Mcnamara Limited linked to a former Minister of State for
Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro; De Privateer Limited run by him, and
Spotless Investment Limited whose bank account was allegedly being
operated by Fayose and his wife, Feyisetan.

Testifying as the third prosecution witness, Biodun Oshode, Zonal
Head of Zenith Bank Plc, South-West, while being led in evidence by
counsel for the EFCC, Wahab Shittu, further narrated the role he played
towards the movement of the cash on May 17, 2014.
He said: “It was Biodun Agbele that coordinated the movement, he came with security and we went to the airport.

“On the 17th of June 2014, I got a call from my colleague who is the
Zonal Head of South-West 1, Ibadan branch that the customer has some
lodgement with the Bank, that the cash will be coming through the Akure
Airport, and Biodun Agbele came to the branch with security to go and
evacuate the cash to the Ibadan branch with our bullion van.”

He further told the court that the slush fund was handed over to
Agbele, adding that he also “supplied the accounts in which the money
was disbursed into”.
He gave the accounts to include, De Privateer Ltd, Spotless Ltd and Ayo Fayose’s account.

He revealed that De Privateer account received N219,400,000; Spotless
Ltd received N100,000,000 and Ayo Fayose’s personal account was
credited with N137,000,000, while balance of N200,000,000 was taken to
Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

The prosecution, thereafter, tendered the statement of the witness
volunteered to the EFCC during investigation, and it was admitted in
evidence. Another statement made to the EFCC on July 25, 2016 was also
admitted in evidence, including a covering letter from Zenith Bank Plc
with bank statements of De Privateer Ltd admitted, and covering letter
from Zenith Bank Plc to the EFCC with bank statements of De Privateer
Ltd.

No objection was raised by the defence team. Under cross-examination
by counsel for the first defendant, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, the witness
however, denied receiving any instruction from Agbele concerning
evacuation of the cash.

“The instruction was from his colleague, Lawrence Akande,” he said.
Ozekhome, further asked him if the procedure for the transaction was
legal, and he said, “Yes”. He further stated that the slush fund was
flown-in, in a single plane, and no action was taken against him
concerning the transaction.

When asked if he knew Obanikoro or had any dealings with him, he
stated that he had never met nor had any dealings with Obanikoro other
than being the Minister of the Federal Republic.

During his cross-examination by the counsel for the second defendant,
Olalekan Ojo, SAN, he noted that someone who is not a signatory to an
account cannot withdraw money from it, adding that he did not know the
office where the lodgement took place. The fourth prosecution witness,
Fajuyitan Olaitan, who was Head Treasury at the Head Office of Diamond
Bank, Lagos, while being led in evidence by Shittu, told the court that
he received an instruction to process “a high valued transaction”, which
could only be made at the Head Office of the bank through the
department he was heading.

He was thereafter confronted with the statement he volunteered to the
EFCC during investigation, which he confirmed to be his. The statement
was tendered by the prosecution as evidence, and it was admitted as
exhibit. He said: “On June 16, a debit transaction was carried out on an
account (Sylver McNamara) and a sum of N1.2bn was debited from the
account and another debit of N0.2m was debited on the Sylver McNamara
account.”

Under cross-examination by Ojo, the witness claimed that he did not
know the person that issued a payment instruction regarding the debit
transaction as his duty only bordered around processing of the debit.
The matter has been adjourned to May 24 and 27, 2019 for “continuation
of cross-examination”.