It has emerged that a call from the presidency stopped operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from impounding a cash haul destined for Kwara State on the eve of the aborted Presidential and National Assembly elections.
According to a report by The Punch, EFCC operatives stormed the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on the evening of Friday, February 15 after a private jet loaded with money failed to take off for Ilorin, Kwara State due to the weight of the cash on board.
The operatives, who were acting on intelligence, were said to have demanded to know the source of the money, its owner and destination from the plane’s crew.
However, the crew informed the operatives that the cash was for election expenses in Kwara State.
Watch video of the plane:
Remember the plane which was billed to fly to Ilorin, Kwara State, from Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, but failed to take off due to the weight of the money on board?
👇Elections: EFCC stopped from probing plane loaded with cash ( The Punch) pic.twitter.com/QdLyNx9Flk
— Newton Ikire (@NewtonIkire) March 2, 2019
“The EFCC operatives interrogated the crew and they claimed they were part of the government . They also gave a code which they assumed the operatives would understand, but the detectives insisted on taking away the money.
“However , a phone call came from the Presidential Villa ordering them to hands off the matter and clear off from the scene. Shortly after, armed soldiers took over the scene and the money was transferred into another plane which took off by 10 pm that night,” the paper quoted an unnamed source as saying.
Reacting, the EFCC spokesman, Tony Orilade however said that the photos and videos circulating on social media about the cash movement could have been “manipulated”.
He also failed to confirm whether EFCC operatives apprehended a plane loaded with cash.
Orilade was quoted as saying, “On the plane -load of cash you asked about , I saw the pictures and we know that these pictures are things that can be manipulated to achieve the purposes by their producers . All the reports from the field are being reviewed and we shall come out with our position once it is ready.”
“Let ’ s not be carried away by the activities of mischief -makers; like the acting EFCC Chairman , Ibrahim Magu said , we shall continue to do the right thing to make Nigeria a better country for everyone,” he added.
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