The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured a court order to detain the Chief Executive Officer of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, Sijibomi Ogundele, over an alleged ₦5.7 billion unexecuted contract.
Ogundele is being investigated by the Commission over his alleged failure to deliver 22 Smart Green School projects in Enugu State after his company was reportedly paid ₦5.7 billion by the state government.
The Commission is currently interrogating Ogundele, who is in custody, to unravel how he spent the funds without executing the contract, as alleged by the Enugu State government.
There are also indications that the EFCC may seek a court order to seize funds in Ogundele’s personal and company accounts, which had earlier been frozen.
An EFCC source confirmed that the remand order was obtained from a Magistrate’s Court to detain him until the anti-graft agency completes its investigation.
It will be recalled that Ogundele’s personal accounts and those of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited had earlier been frozen by the Commission, which also seized his international passport to restrict his movement until the completion of investigations into the alleged contract scam.
The source further disclosed that there is evidence that the funds were paid to Ogundele, adding that the EFCC is also in possession of the contract terms and documents showing his alleged failure to comply with the contractual obligations. “He is expected to explain how he spent the ₦5.7 billion or refund the money. His case looks straightforward,” the EFCC source said.
The source explained that Ogundele’s accounts were frozen in case the investigation progresses to a stage where the Commission would approach the courts for forfeiture of the funds.
From next week, the EFCC intends for Ogundele to interface with top officials of the Enugu State government as part of the ongoing investigation.
The EFCC had declared Ogundele wanted on the penultimate Friday for alleged money laundering.
However, Ogundele swiftly took to X (formerly Twitter) to blame the Enugu State government for the EFCC’s action. He argued that the contract was underpriced and cited inflation as a reason for his inability to complete the project.
Responding to Ogundele’s claims, the Enugu State government alleged that the Sujimoto CEO disappeared after collecting ₦5.7 billion as a 50 per cent mobilisation fee to deliver 22 Smart Green Schools within six months, beginning February 2025.
Parts of the state government’s response read: “The Enugu State Government paid the sum of ₦5,762,565,475.25, representing 50 per cent of the contract sum, to fast-track the projects at all the sites.
“Rather than play by the rules of the contract, Mr Ogundele resorted to shoddy jobs and the use of inexperienced workers and quack engineers.
“None of his sites, or the little jobs done on them, 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 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 project briefings organised by the state government for all contractors or respond to numerous calls and messages.
“In fact, he practically abandoned the sites, leaving the Enugu State Government with no choice but to petition the EFCC to recover the funds paid to him.
“A joint team of officers from the Enugu State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure and the EFCC visited the 22 sites to evaluate 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 sites one year after the contract award.
“In some cases, he fraudulently failed to excavate all the blocks. It is also on record that he has not shown up at the sites or made himself available to either the state government or law enforcement agencies.
“The government has since retaken and handed over the sites to new firms, which have no choice but to start the construction afresh.
It is equally noteworthy that there were other firms awarded multiple Smart Green School projects, and they are delivering quality jobs on target.”
Pictures that accompanied the Enugu State government’s response showed that most of the project sites were only at foundation or damp-proof course (DPC) levels, with a few reaching block work stage.
The government also revealed that many other contractors had completed similar projects.
One of the contractors, Benneth Nwatu, MD/CEO of Ever Progressive Integrated Resources Venture, said:
“Our company has completed multiple projects here. For example, we handled the Smart Green School at Ugwuomu Nike, the one at Queens School, and another at Inyi in Oji River.
“One thing about the governor is that he is happy when somebody shows capacity. When we completed the project at Queens School within six months, the government graciously awarded us more jobs. The ones we are handling at Ekulu Girls and Iva Valley are also almost completed.”
