Fayose wants FG to identify owners of Ikoyi N13bn cash

Charity Nnaji

Ayodele Fayose, the Ekiti State Governor, has asked the Federal Government of Nigeria to identify owners of N13billion cash at an apartment in Ikoyi.

In a statement released by his aide, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said:  “Yesterday, it was made public that the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) claimed ownership of the $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23, 218,000 seized on Wednesday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from Osborne Towers, a luxury residential complex in Ikoyi, Lagos.

“This, to my mind is one cover-up too many and this federal government seeming plot to protect the original owner of both the money and the apartment where it was found has further shown that the anti-corruption fight is political, selective and therefore a ruse.”

Fayose further stated “Nigerians should recall that I have consistently maintained that the APC-led federal government was not fighting any corruption. Rather, the government is using the anti-corruption fight as a major political tool to cripple opposition and turn the country to a one party state.

“Therefore, for once, the federal government should operate with the mind-set that Nigerians are no fools. They are capable of asking questions and they are already doing that.”

In the statemeny the statement he raised some salient questions. Part of the questions include, “Who is the owner of the apartment in which the money was found? Does the apartment also belong to the NIA? If the apartment belong to the NIA, when was it bought and from whom? If the apartment does not belong to the NIA, from whom and when was it rented? How could a whistle-blower be aware of movement of money into one out of many apartments in a building without knowing the owner of the apartment?

If truly the NIA was carrying out a “covert operation” as claimed, was President Muhammadu Buhari not briefed of the so-called “covert operation” when he took over power? Was the National Security Adviser (NSA), whose office controls all intelligence agencies, including the EFCC and DSS not aware of the “covert operation”?

“As for me, the script being acted on this discovered cash is a cover-up that will mar the EFCC and the federal government. It is a movie well scripted for some alawada (comedians) but acted so badly.

“It is a major test of the integrity of the APC federal government’s so-called anti-corruption fight, and the earlier the proponents of the cover-up plot come back to their normal senses and tell Nigerians who owns the apartment in which the money was found, the better for them.

“In the last few weeks, we have been served with dramas of recovery of funds by the EFCC,” the statement said