Why We ‘Detained’ Fani-Kayode’s Wife, Son In Ekiti – EFCC

The EFCC, on Monday, ordered the arrest of Mrs Fani Kayode, who stopped at a branch of Access Bank in Ekiti State to withdraw money while on her way to visit Governor Ayodele Fayose.

In a statement by EFCC spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said the ex-minister’s wife attempted to withdraw money from an account which the agency had frozen.

The statement read, “Contrary to the spin about the purported arrest of mother and child, a certain Chikwendu Sonia today attempted to withdraw money from an Access Bank account that had been placed on ‘Post No Debit’ Category, following the discovery of illicit cash flows into the account.

“She was intercepted by the bank while the commission was notified, but because it was late, the EFCC advised that the suspect be taken to the police station for processing and release on bail.

“They were arranging to take the suspect to the police station when Governor Ayo Fayose stormed the bank with thugs and his personal security and forcefully secured the release of the suspect, with claims that the EFCC had no power to detain anybody in his state. He also vowed to close down the branch of the bank.

“The said account, which had a balance of N2,307,712.82, was flagged following investigation into the PDP Joint Trust Fund when the commission traced N1.1bn to the Zenith Bank account of Fani-Kayode.

“It was discovered that the account had two biometric identification numbers, one for Fani-Kayode and the other (with BVN 2205597283) for Sonia Chikwendu. The same BVN is linked to two other accounts in Diamond Bank and 15 accounts in Guaranty Trust Bank.”

Meanwhile, Mrs Fani-Kayode in her explanation, said that the account had been dormant for about five years, and she activated it last month, September, in Port Harcourt.

She said that she warned the anti-graft agency to leave her alone after the arrested her, stating that she was not a politician but a private person.

She further lamented that she was badly treated by the officials while her baby was denied food.

She stated, “I’m not a politician and that account had been dormant for about five years. I only activated it last month in Port Harcourt.

“I decided to go to Access Bank to make some withdrawals when I was detained on the instructions of the EFCC.

“They told me the account had been frozen and they were asked by the EFCC to arrest me on the spot.

“I have been operating the account since 2005 when I was a student in the university. They had earlier frozen my two bank accounts which they have not opened till today and I have been waiting for them to invite me, but up till today, they have not.

“The balance in the account is just N200,000; so, I don’t know what their interest is. I’m a private person. I have not received any political fund; so, why are they trying to starve my family?

“That account has nothing to do with politics. This is dehumanising. I had to called the governor to inform him of the development.”