A pilot has told the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFFC) how he flew a former Minister of State for Defence, Mr.
Musiliu Obanikoro, with N1.299 billion cash for Ekiti State Governor Ayodele
Fayose.
Capt. Ahmed Bashir Borodo said the cash was wrapped with
green military tarpaulin bags before it was loaded onto the chartered aircraft
registered HS125-800 5N-BMT, owned by
Gyro Air Limited.
He said the bags were so heavy that only three people
could carry one at a time.
Also, the General Manager of Gyro Air Limited, Mr. Jide
West, has disclosed that about $25, 200 was paid for the two chartered flights
from Lagos to Akure and Akure to Abuja. EFCC detectives grilled Borodo and
West at the weekend,
The session was part of the ongoing probe of Fayose for
allegedly receiving the N1.299billion slush funds from Obanikoro through his
associate, Abiodun Agbele.
About N4.745billion was paid into Obanikoro’s company
Sylva Mcnamara’s office by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA)
for the 2014 Ekiti governorship.
The slush funds had been
traced by EFCC to Obanikoro, Fayose, three firms and a former Deputy Governor of Osun State,
Otunba Iyiola Omisore.
Borodo said he only flew the plane in line with the
directive of his airline’s management.
He said: “On the 17th June 2014, I was advised around
0700 hours by my Flight Operations Department that we would be operating a
chartered flight to Akure from Lagos with estimated departure time of 0830
hours.
“The client was Musiliu Obanikoro, Minister of State for
Defence at that time.
“I arrived at the airport at about 0730 hours to prepare
for the flight along with my colleague, Captain Olubiyi Famuyiwa and cabin
attendant Uyi Okoro. Minutes later, the minister’s aides came to the aircraft
with some bullion vans. They started offloading the contents, which were big
green tarpaulin bags. Military bags precisely.
“The ADC to the minister was dressed in Navy uniform.
This is all I can state now.”
The pilot recalled that the bags were so heavy that three
people carried one. He said: “When we noticed that only about three people
could carry the bags because of the weight, we told them that because of the
weight, we could only take about eight
to nine bags.
“The minister who had disembarked at that time from his vehicle pleaded with us
but we said our aircraft was too small to carry all the bags. We loaded the
bags. The minister, his ADC and a friend boarded the aircraft and we departed
to Akure , Ondo State.
“ When we arrived at Akure Airport, some soldiers came
and there was a bullion van as well to carry the baggage. We departed empty to
Lagos on the 17/06/14. On the 18th of June 2014, we were sent from Abuja to
Akure to pick Mr. Musiliu Obanikoro and take him to Abuja. He boarded without
any luggage with his ADC and we proceeded to Abuja to drop him.”
West gave an insight into how the chartered flight
service was procured at $25,200.
He said: “On the 15/16 of June 2014, Lt. Adewale O Eruka
called me for a flight to Akure scheduled for 17th and 18th of June 2014 on the
instruction of Musiliu Obanikoro. I contacted operation and the flight was carried out as detailed
below: 17/6/14 – Lagos – Akure – Lagos
“I was informed that they carried the bags to Akure with
some passengers as indicated in the manifest.
“On 18/6/14 , the flight was Abuja – Akure – Abuja to pick up the passengers from Akure back to
Abuja. The aircraft was empty from Abuja but brought the passengers back to
Abuja. Passengers as indicated in the manifest.
“The flights were paid for; $25,200 was paid for both
flights and this was arranged by Lt. Adewale. The crew on the flight on both
occasions were: Capt. ‘Biyi Famuyiwa whose service has been terminated by Gyro
Air Ltd; Ahmed Borodo the second pilot who accompanied me to EFCC today;
and Uyi Okoro the cabin crew who
resigned her appointment from Gyro for further studies abroad. Resignation and
termination letters attached.
”I also have a text on my phone dated 19/6/14 from Lt.
Adewale detailing how payment will be made for the chartered service.”
As at press time, there were indications that some
officials of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria Civil
Aviation Authority (NCAA) and Nigeria Air Management Agency (NAMA) may appear
before the EFCC, which is intensifying its probe of Fayose.
“We are likely to invite more people for interrogation,”
a source said.
Source: The Nation
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