The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission has been barred from investigating a private jet loaded with money on February 15, 2019, the eve of the aborted presidential and National Assembly elections, Saturday PUNCH learnt on Friday.
Our correspondent gathered that the plane which was billed to fly to Ilorin, Kwara State, from Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos failed to take off due to the weight of the money on board.
Multiple sources said the EFCC operatives thereafter stormed the plane after a tip-off from some people about the cargo. They demanded the source of the money, its owner and destination.
The crew was said to have informed the operatives that the money was meant for election expenses in Kwara State, but the detectives reportedly insisted on taking away the cash haul.
Our sources said, “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 10pm that night.”
The Public Relations Officer, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, could not be reached for comments on the aircraft involved in the cash movement as she did not respond to calls to her phone. She had yet to respond to a text message as of the time of filing this report.
In his reaction, the acting EFCC spokesman, Tony Orilade, simply explained that he saw the alleged picture of the said aircraft being shared on the social media, noting that it could have been ‘created and recreated.’
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