The Chief Executive Officer of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, Sijibomi Ogundele, is in trouble with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which grilled him for hours in Abuja on Monday over the alleged diversion of ₦5.7 billion belonging to the Enugu State Government.
As of 8 p.m., the interrogation was still ongoing, with strong indications that he might be detained.
The anti-graft agency has frozen Ogundele’s personal and company accounts, in addition to seizing his passport to restrict his movement.
It was gathered that Ogundele’s firm was awarded a contract worth over ₦11 billion by the Enugu State Government. Initially, the state approved the payment of 30 percent of the contract sum, but Ogundele reportedly pleaded for 50 percent, promising to complete the project within record time.
Conceding to his request, the state released ₦5.7 billion — representing half of the contract sum. However, according to the government, the actual value of the work executed was only about ₦750 million.
Officials alleged that Ogundele later became evasive and failed to return to site, prompting the government to petition the EFCC.
When Ogundele initially refused to honour the agency’s invitation, he was declared wanted. Before he resurfaced, investigators and representatives of the Enugu State Government reportedly inspected the project site.
An EFCC source confirmed yesterday: “The Chief Executive Officer of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited has surrendered to our commission and we immediately took him into custody. For more than 10 hours, we have been questioning him based on the petition of the Enugu State Government.
“We have frozen all his accounts and that of his company pending the conclusion of preliminary investigation. We will also seize his passport to restrict his movement to the country. We are still interrogating him, we are yet to admit him to bail.”
EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Dele Oyewale, also confirmed the development, saying: “Our investigators were still grilling him.”
Meanwhile, Ogundele has vowed to clear his name after being declared wanted by the EFCC.
In an emotional video shared online, the Sujimoto boss broke down in tears, insisting that the matter was purely contractual.
“I’m not a thief, I’m not a fugitive. This is a contract between my company and the Enugu State Government. The Enugu State Government asked me to help them build a couple of things, which was very interesting. I was going to the state every week,” he said.
His tears was quickly dismissed by the Enugu State government by the release of the uncompleted projects in 22 sites after collecting the huge sum.
