Obanikoro’s N40m Refund Cheque To EFCC Bounces

N40 million check issued to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by Former Minister of State for Defense Musiliu Obanikoro has bounced.

Mr. Obanikoro, who returned from the U.S. two weeks ago and surrendered to the anti-corruption agency following one year on the run, wrote several checks to the EFCC to fulfill his promise to refund part of the N4.7 billion laundered through him and his son to finance the election of Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State in 2014.

Mr. Obanikoro, also a former ambassador to Ghana, admitted to embezzling N800m of the funds and promised to refund all of it. The initial agreement with EFCC investigators was for the former minister to refund N100m as a condition for his bail from custody.

However, two weeks after his detention, Mr. Obanikoro has only succeeded in paying back N24m. He then issued a series of checks to the recovery account of the federal government last week, but EFCC operatives detailed to process the checks discovered that the account to which they were issued had no money.

Mr. Obanikoro blamed the error on politicians and friends who had visited him in detention and promised to deposit money in the accounts.

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