– Obanikoro has challenged the EFCC – He said EFCC claims were mere allegations that have not been proven – Obanikoro further asked the EFCC to stop deceiving Nigerians

Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, the immediate
past minister of state, foreign affairs and a
former Nigerian ambassador to Ghana, has
reacted to reports associating his sons to the
Sylva McNamara account that allegedly
received funds from the office of the
embattled National security Adviser, Sambo
Dasuki.
A statement signed on Saturday, January 30,
by one of his media aide, Jonathan Eze
challenged the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) to sincerely
publish the names of the directors and
signatories to the alleged Silva McNamara
Limited account to the public, Premium
Times reports.
The EFCC traced the sum of N4.75bn to a
Diamond Bank account, owned by Silva
McNamara Limited and Gbolahan and
Babajide Obanikoro, two sons of the former
minister were discovered to be on the board
of the company.
The funds discovered in Silva McNamara
Limited’s account is connected to the
ongoing investigation on the alleged
diversion of $2.1bn meant for arms
procurement under the immediate past
administration of Goodluck Jonathan.
Obanikoro asked Sahara Reporters and the
EFCC to stop demonising and deceiving
Nigerians with vague, contrived and distorted
information.
He noted that that there is nowhere in the
world where investigations are being
conducted using the pages of the
newspapers
The statement read in parts: “ Associating my
sons to the Sylva McNamara account that
allegedly received funds from the office of
the embattled National security Adviser is
highly preposterous and unthinkable.
“I am particularly amazed by the fact that
trials and investigations are being done
using the media unconventionally just to
satisfy the cravings of political entities who
are desperate to rub my hard earned
reputation in the mud.
“Since the invincible Sahara Reporters whom
I have legal cases against are at the forefront
of misleading the public and defaming my
person, perhaps rationalizing that I would
withdraw pending suits against it, I am using
this medium to challenge it and the EFCC to
publish in good conscience the signatories
and the names of the directors of the said
company and to restate that I shall
conclusively pursue this injustice and
infringements to a logical end .”
He urged the EFCC to be straight and above
board in their investigations and avoid
speculations and conjectures that are
infringing on the fundamental human rights
of his sons.