…I’ll clear my name – Ogundele
…Disregard his theatrics and crocodile tears – Enugu State Gov’t
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has declared a Lagos-based businessman, Olasijibomi Ogundele, wanted over alleged diversion of funds and money laundering.
This is also as the Enugu State Government has accused the CEO of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, Olasijibomi Ogundele, of defrauding the state of nearly N6bn, noting that Ogundele vanished into thin air after he was paid the said sum for the construction of 22 Smart Green Schools in different parts of the state.
In a wanted notice signed by its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, and posted on its official X handle on Friday, the Commission appealed to members of the public with credible information about Ogundele’s whereabouts to come forward.
The notice read, “The public is hereby notified that Olasijibomi Ogundele of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, whose photograph appears above, is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in an alleged case of diversion of funds and money laundering.
“Ogundele is a 44-year-old indigene of Ori-Ade Local Government Area of Osun State. His last known address is: G29, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos State.
“Anybody with useful information as to his whereabouts should please contact the Commission in its Ibadan, Uyo, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Benin, Makurdi, Kaduna, Ilorin, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Gombe, Port Harcourt or Abuja offices, or through 08093322644; its e-mail address: [email protected], or the nearest Police Station and other security agencies.”
Sujimoto speaks after accusation of fraud
Olasijibomi Ogundele, a Lagos-based businessman, has reacted to the decision of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to declare him wanted over alleged “diversion of funds and money laundering”.
In a video posted on social media, Ogundele, popularly known as Sujimoto, said he is neither a thief nor fugitive.
The CEO attributed his case with the anti-graft agency to a project involving his company and the Enugu state government.
“I’m not a thief and fugitive. This is a contract between my company and the Enugu state government,” he said.
“The Enugu state government asked me to help them build a couple of projects, which were very interesting.
“I was going to the state every week. In the middle of the project, the governor said he wanted to build a city and the tallest building in Nigeria — a 69-storey building.”
He said the Enugu government also asked his company to build some schools in the state and that amid the project, the cost of building materials kept escalating due to inflationary trend.
Ogundele added that while his company was executing the school project, the relationship between the firm and the state government turned sour.
In between sobs, the businessman lamented the state of the economy and how prices of building materials kept soaring.
“When we took the contract, a bag of cement was N7,000 per bag. At the time we left, cement was N10,000. I faced a lot of people. Sometimes in the villages, my staff were shot at. Some people would bring guns and shoot at them… I was still there,” he said.
“Things went sour between myself and the government. If I had money, I would have continued the project. But I had other projects.
“They (Enugu state government) took me to court. We told the court that we don’t want to fight with the government.
“We asked how much we owed the government. I was in agreement with them. Now, they have declared me wanted. They destroyed my company. I’m going to the EFCC office to clear my name.”
How Sujimoto CEO, Ogundele, Defrauded Enugu State Government of N5.7bn – Official
…Accuses him of premeditated fraud
Stating that Ogundele defrauded the state of nearly N6bn, the Enugu State Government also accused Ogundele of premeditated fraud, explaining that while he presented a bond issued by Jaiz Bank to secure the contract, he used the company’s Zenith Bank account registered with the state’s Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to receive the said payment, making it impossible for the state to hold Jaiz Bank liable.
The clarifications were contained in a statement issued by the Enugu State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr. Malachy Agbo, on Friday.
The statement said, “For the avoidance of doubt, on July 2, 2024, the Enugu State Government awarded a contract in the sum of N11,457,930,950.52 to Sujimoto Luxury Construction Ltd for the construction of 22 Smart Schools (buildings only) in six months starting from the date of the acceptance of the award.
“The Enugu State Government paid the sum of N5,762,565,475.25, representing 50 per cent of the contract sum, in order to fast-track the projects at all the sites.
“Rather than play to the rules of the contract to deliver quality projects for furnishing and equipping ahead of September 2025 school resumption, in line with the priority placed on the Smart Green Schools initiative by the government, Mr. Ogundele resorted to shoddy jobs and the use of inexperienced workers and quack engineers. None of his sites met the structural integrity of the projects as specified in the structural drawing.
“Worse still, he vanished into thin air with the money. All efforts made by the government to get him to a roundtable to discuss the quality and progress of work proved abortive. He equally refused to attend the periodic projects briefing organised by the state government for all contractors or take numerous calls and messages put across to him. In fact, he practically abandoned the sites, leaving the Enugu State Government with no other choice than to petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to recover the funds paid to him.
“A joint team of officers of the Enugu State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure and the EFCC visited the 22 sites to evaluate the progress of work on May 8 and 9, 2025, where it was clearly established that there had been minimal to no significant work done at the said sites one year after the contract award. In some cases, he fraudulently did not do excavation for all the blocks in site.
“It is also on record that he has not shown up at the sites or made himself available to either the state government or the law enforcement agencies even after those site visits.
“It is also pertinent to state that it was discovered in the course of investigation that whereas he presented a bond from Jaiz Bank, he used Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited’s Zenith Bank account number 1312731196
to receive the said payment and draw down the fund without deploying it to the projects. This clearly shows a premeditated intent to defraud the state ab initio.
“The government has since retaken and handed over the sites to new firms, who has no choice than to start the construction afresh. Tremendous progress has been made to keep the determination of the Mbah Administration to migrate Enugu children to Smart Green Schools by September on track.
“Nigerians should therefore disregard his theatrics and crocodile tears, as Enugu State Government is determined to and will surely recover every penny of Ndi Enugu fraudulently obtained by Mr. Olasijibomi Ogundele (Sujimoto).”
The Enugu State Government’s statement was accompanied with pictures of the project sites as abandoned by Sujimoto, which were taken by the joint team of officials of the state and operatives of the EFCC during the May 8 and 9 site visits.
The pictures clearly showed that the project sites were mostly at the levels of foundation and DPC, with a few at the stage of block work.