FORMER aviation minister Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has had his passport seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday after he admitted that he received N840m the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) during the last election campaign. 

Chief Fani-Kayode served as director of publicity of the Goodluck Jonathan Presidential Election Campaign in 2015 and received state funding to run it. On Monday, Chief Fani-Kayode was arrested by the EFCC and during interrogation, he admitted accepting the cash to run the campaign. 

However, he said her was unaware of the fact that the money emanated from the account of the CBN and was assured by the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party that the cash was sourced from private individuals. Jude Ndukwe, Chief Fani-Kayode's spokesman, confirmed that the ex-minister had submitted his passport to the EFCC, adding that the agency had given him bail conditions but had refused to release his patron despite meeting the conditions. 

Mr Ndukwe added: “The EFCC gave him two bail conditions. The first condition was that he would hand over his passport while the second condition was for him to provide two sureties. 

"The two sureties must be at least directors in the civil service and must have properties in the Abuja Municipal Area Council.  Five days after meeting the conditions, the EFCC has refused to release him.” 

In a related development, the EFCC has arrested a former principal private secretary, to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Alhaji Hassan Tukur. Alhaji Tukur had been on the radar of the EFCC for several months over the alleged $15bn arms scam. 

He was said to have been given money to help negotiate a peace deal with Boko Haram during the Jonathan administration. Also, the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Ramalan Yero, has been a guest of the EFCC for the last 48 hours where he is being quizzed for allegedly receiving N700m.

 According to the EFCC, Alhaji Yero was being investigated for his alleged role in the $115m shared by a former minister of petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke. The money, which was handled by Fidelity Bank, was said to have been used in bribing several officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission during the build-up to the 2015 presidential election.