Obanikoro set to give testimony against Fayose in court today as corruption trial resumes sitting

FORMER Ekiti State's Governor Ayo Fayose appeared at the federal high court in Lagos this morning as his case continues over the next three days over allegations that he participated in a N6.9bn ($19m) fraud while in office.

Since leaving office in October last year, Governor Fayose submitted himself to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) following the end of his tenure and the lapsing of his immunity from prosecution. Turning up at the commission's offices in Abuja wearing a T-shirt with the inscription EFCC I'm Here, Governor Fayose said he was ready to answer any questions about his stewardship.

He has since been arrested and charged with fraud, although Governor Fayose has denied any involvement in the $1.3bn scam in which former defence minister Senator Musiliu Obanikoro handed him cash to prosecute the 2014 Ekiti gubernatorial elections. At the resumed hearing today, the judge approved bail in a case that will later on involve Senator Obanikoro cross-examined as a prosecution witness.

At the last hearing on January 21, Senator Obanikoro testified that Governor Fayose received $5m and some amounts of naira from the impress account of a former national security adviser Col Sambo Dasuki, in June 2014. Justice Mojisola Olatoregun handling the trial, rose shortly after the court began sitting to attend an official function, saying that she would be back in an hour to continue with the case.

On October 22 last year, Governor Fayose was arraigned by the EFCC alongside a company known as Spotless Investment, on 11 counts. He, however, pleaded not guilty and was granted bail in the sum of N50m with one surety in like sum.

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