EFFC LINKS FAYOSE WITH MULTI-BILLION NAIRA WORTH OFF PROPERTIES

 No fewer than seven houses have allegedly been linked to Governor Ayo Fayose since he returned to power in 2014, sources close to the investigation of the Ekiti State helmsman have revealed.

And some of them, including one worth N1.2 billion in Lagos State, were said to have had their transactions handled for Fayose by his close ally, Abiodun Agbele, who is popularly called Abbey.

Agbele was arrested on June 27 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

It was learnt that Agbele’s arrest was facilitated by a socialite Lagos-based lady, who is close to Fayose and simply identified as Oyin, when he went to pick up the papers for the N1.2 billion house located on Victoria Island.

The documents were meant to be altered so they do not read Fayose’s name again.

However, when Agbele got to the office of Oyin, whose business name is said to be “Safe Haven”, the lady kept him waiting until operatives of the EFCC, whom she had informed of his presence by telephone, arrived.

It was gathered that the EFCC had also closed in on Oyin over some of the Fayose deals and the only saving grace for her was to deliver Agbele to the anti-graft agency.

Oyin allegedly facilitated the purchase of the Victoria Island property.

However, it has been gathered is that Agbele is alleging from EFCC’s detention facility in Abuja that he is being coerced into implicating Fayose.

It was earlier reported that when Agbele was detained in Lagos, he only volunteered a two-page statement to the EFCC.

In the statement, he insisted that it was Zenith Bank Plc that bankrolled the 2014 election of Fayose.

However, after a failed bid to obtain a court-sanctioned 30-day detention of Agbele failed in Lagos, as reported last week, the governor’s ally was moved to Abuja.

Sources said he has since arriving in the Abuja facility of the EFCC made statements implicating Fayose.

Agbele, is, however, saying that he was being forced to implicate Fayose.

It was alleged he may not be off the hook of the anti-graft agency soon as the EFCC is said to be pressurising him to implicate Fayose as a condition for his release from detention.

Agbele, who was invited to come to the EFCC office in Abuja, was arrested by operatives of the anti-corruption agency in Lagos on June 27 and is still being detained by the EFCC.

He is being detained as part of the EFCC’s investigation of a sum of N4.7 billion allegedly received from the Office of the National Security Adviser through the former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro.

Accounts of Governor Fayose in Zenith Bank Plc have been frozen by the EFCC over the development.

Informed sources in the EFCC disclosed that Agbele was said to have insisted initially that he did not receive any money from Senator Obanikoro or anyone from the NSA office under retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki.

Sources said he only wrote a two-page statement while in the Lagos office of the EFCC.

“EFCC appears to be at crossroad now because Agbele was said to have maintained that he won’t lie against himself by saying what did not happen. Agbele was said to be insisting that funds only got into his account through Zenith Bank, donations and not from the NSA office,” the source said.

It should be recalled that Governor Fayose had stated that his election was funded by Zenith Bank Plc, fund raising, donations from friends and associates as well as sales of campaign souvenirs.

He said further that he had no financial transaction whatsoever with the ONSA under Dasuki and Obanikoro either by cash, cheque or electronic transfer.

The governor also challenged EFCC to publish statements made by Senator Obanikoro, his son or any other person associated with money from the NSA office where they claimed they gave him money for the election, adding that what the anti-corruption agency was doing was part of the grand plot to intimidate and harass him into submission.

The source added: “Agbele was said to have told the EFCC that money was transferred to his account by Zenith Bank and it was Governor Fayose that introduced him to Zenith Bank as part of the bank’s arrangement to fund his election.

“He has also said that he was not a politician and that he never had any financial dealing with Obanikoro or the former NSA, Colonel Sambo Dasuki.

“However, EFCC is only interested in getting a link between funds allegedly received from the NSA office and Governor Fayose and Agbele is believed to be the only one that can provide that link.

“Thus, Agbele may have been given the option of either making statements to implicate Governor Fayose by creating the needed link or remain incarcerated for as along as they desired.”