We did not detain Femi Fani Kayode's wife - EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it did not detain the wife of former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode contrary to reports in the media. The Head of Media and Publicity at the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, said this in a statement made available to the media on Monday.

The statement reads: “The wife of Femi Fani-Kayode and her child are not in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and were never detained by the Commission.

“Contrary to the media spin about the purported arrest of mother and child, a certain Chikwendu Sonia today (Monday) 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 N 2,307,712.82 was flagged following investigation into the PDP Joint Trust fund when the Commission traced N1.1billion 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.”