Several months after being declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, former Osun State Deputy Governor, Senator Iyiola Omisore, was yesterday arrested by the operatives of the commission in Abuja.
The top Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, bigwig was taken into EFCC custody in Abuja for questioning and there were indications last night he might be arraigned in court over the receipt of N1.3 billion by three firms allegedly owned by him from the former National Adviser to the President, Sambo Dasuki.
According to the commission, the money was moved from the ONSA and paid into the accounts of firms linked to a former Defence Minister, Musiliu Obanikoro and his sons, before being transferred to the company linked to Omisore. *Omisore The former deputy governor has since denied any wrongdoing and filed a suit against the EFCC for declaring him wanted while he is in court to challenge the agency for its infringement on his fundamental rights. A spokesman for the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed the arrest of Omisore but did not give details. He only said the former Senator was arrested in his house in Abuja and taken into custody.
To pave the way for his prosecution, the EFCC last week froze the five bank accounts traced to Omisore, Obanikoro and his two sons, having declared Omisore wanted in March this year. The accounts frozen by the anti-graft agency included Sylvan McNamara (number 0026223714 with Diamond Bank); Sawanara Limited with First Bank; Fimex Gilt Limited with the United Bank for Africa; and Metropolitan Consortium with First Bank. The firm said to be owned by Obanikoro’s two sons- Gbolahan and Babajide reportedly received the N4.7 billion from the ONSA in 2014, out of which N1.3 billion was transferred to Omisore.
An official of the commission gave an idea of how the money was moved from the ONSA and paid into the bank accounts of the suspects. The sources said: “On July 9, 2014, N150 million was paid into the account of Sawanara with First Bank. On August 1, 2014, N300 million was paid to Sawanara Limited.” “On August 8, 2014, N160million was paid into the account of Fimex Gilt Limited domiciled with UBA.
On the day of the election, August 9, 2014, N350million was paid into the First Bank account of Metropolitan Consortium. All the accounts were linked to Omisore ahead of the August 2014 governorship election in Osun State.” Omisore, who has since been declared wanted by the anti-graft agency, allegedly received the funds in four tranches from Sylvan McNamara between July and August 2014, a few weeks before the Osun State governorship election which he lost. A document detailing the transaction showed that the money was paid into three company accounts allegedly belonging to Omisore.
EFCC claimed in a statement made available to Vanguard that Omisore had been evading the commission after being served with a formal invitation to appear for questioning on what he knew about the money.
[Vanguard]
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