Information available to media via a whistleblower suggests that the woman seen hauling the money into the apartment of the Director-General of the Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA) Ayodele Oke, in Ghana-Must-Go bags may have been Folashade Oke, his wife; however, he claimed that the $43 million, N23.2 million and £27,800 (N13billion) cash found in an apartment in Lagos last week belongs to his agency.
Investigation has revealed that the owners of Apartment 7B gave Folashade Oke, with phone number +2348059833410, as their contact.
Sources at the NIA confirmed Folashade to be the spouse of their Director-General, Mr. Oke.
The day after the money was discovered, Mr. Oke had told SaharaReporters he could not verify any information about the money as he had not read any report linking his agency to the cash.
After pledging to speak to us thereafter, he did not take any calls until he suddenly announced that the money belonged to NIA, and that it had been approved by President Goodluck Jonathan for certain “covert” activities.
One of the whistleblowers responsible for the discovery told our correspondent that since he started working on the property as a guard, a woman who spoke fluent Yoruba repeatedly brought huge bags of money to Apartment 7B.
That particular property was known to guards as Apartment “Dash-Dash” because in the records there were two dashes where the name of the owner ought to be.
He recalled that on two occasions, he helped the woman, who was always curiously dressed in a haggardly way, to carry the money to “Dash-Dash”.
The woman, on the first occasion, gave him N10,000 as a gift, and on the second, N500.
He said the woman would spend about two hours in the apartment, then go freshen up in the gym at the back of the building before leaving.
While Mrs. Oke appears to be that person, who was quietly trying to traffic the money to the apartment for some reason, a quick check on True Caller shows phone number +2348059833410 to be customized as “Okemob Niger”.
According to the whistleblower, who is in hiding for fear of his life, there are about 19 fully occupied apartments and 2 penthouses at the 16 Osborne Road, Ikoyi, property.
Estate valuers estimate each of the apartment with four bedrooms and state of the art facilities to cost about N250 million.
The building is owned by a former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ahmed Muazu, who is currently in Singapore, according to persons knowledgeable about his movement.
Mr. Muazu, after initially denying ownership of the building, has now owned up.
The whistleblower said Mr. Muazu has many prominent Nigerians as apartment owners in the building.
They include wealthy former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, who owns one on the first floor; recently-retired Managing-Director of the NNPC, Esther Ogbue, on the second; and TV personality and owner of EbonyLife TV, Mo Abudu, on the 4th.
