N5.7bn contract: EFCC secures court order to detain Sujimoto CEO

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 N5.7 billion unexecuted contract.

Ogundele is being investigated by the Commission over alleged failure to deliver 22 Smart Green School projects in Enugu State after his company was reportedly paid the sum of N5.7 billion by the state government.

The Commission is currently quizzing Ogundele, who is in custody, to unravel how he spent the sum without executing the contract, as alleged by Enugu State government.

Also, there were indications that the EFCC might seek a court order to seize funds in Ogundele’s personal and company’s accounts, which had earlier been frozen.

An EFCC source said the remand order was secured from a Magistrate Court to detain him until the anti-graft agency was able to complete its investigation.

It would be recalled that Ogundele’s personal accounts and that of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited had earlier been frozen by the Commission, which also seized his international passport in order to restrict his movement until the completion of investigations into the alleged contract scam.

The source said there is evidence that the said sum was paid to Ogundele, adding that the EFCC was equally in possession of the terms of the contract and the documents showing his failure to comply with the contractual obligation.

“He is expected to explain how he spent the N5.7 billion or refund the money. His case looks straightforward,” the EFCC source said.

Explaining further, the source said Ogundele’s accounts were frozen in case the investigation gets to a stage where the Commission would approach the courts for forfeiture of the funds.

The EFCC source disclosed that, from next week, the Sujimoto CEO, Ogundele, will interface with top officials of Enugu State Government as part of investigations into the case.

The EFCC had declared Ogundele wanted penultimate Friday for alleged money laundering.

However, Ogundele immediately went on X to blame the Enugu State Government for the EFCC’s action.

He said the contract was underpriced, and also cited inflation as a reason for the inability to complete the project.

Responding to Ogundele’s claims, the Enugu State government alleged that the Sujimoto CEO disappeared after collecting N5.7 billion as 50 percent mobilization fee to deliver 22 Smart Green Schools in six months, being February 2025.

Parts of the state government’s response read: “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, Mr. Ogundele resorted to shoddy jobs and the use of inexperienced workers and quack engineers.

“None of his sites little jobs done on the 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 but 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

“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 number of Smart Green School projects and they are delivering quality jobs on target.”

Pictures that accompanied the Enugu State government’s response showed that the project sites were mostly at the levels of foundation and DPC, with a few at the stage of block work.

The government also disclosed that many other contractors had completed similar projects.

One of the contractors involved in the execution of the Smart Green School project, Benneth Nwatu, MD/CEO of Ever Progressive Integrated Resources Venture, in his testimony, 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 one at Inyi in Oji River.

“One thing about the governor is that he is somebody who 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.”

N5.7bn contract: EFCC secures court order to detain Sujimoto CEO