The Enugu State Government has insisted that the Chief Executive Officer of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, Olasijibomi Ogundele, breached contract terms and called his emotional video where he denied allegations of fraud nothing more than theatrics.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday declared Sujimoto wanted for alleged diversion of funds and money laundering in connection with a contract for the construction of 22 Smart Green Schools across Enugu State.
Reacting to the allegations, Sujimoto in a viral video, denied wrongdoing and promised that he would face the EFCC.
“I am not a thief, I am not a fugitive,” the embattled CEO said, blaming inflation and insecurity for delays, while he added that cement prices had jumped from ₦7,000 to ₦10,000 per bag.
Responding to Sujimoto’s video, the Enugu State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Malachy Agbo, dismissed his claims, accusing the real estate executive of “premeditated fraud.”
“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,” Agbo said.
“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.”
Agbo said 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.
He explained that in some cases, Sujimoto fraudulently did not do excavation for all the blocks in site.
Agbo added that 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,” Agbo said.
“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.”
The commissioner called on Nigerians to disregard Sujimoto’s theatrics and crocodile tears, as the Enugu State Government is determined to and will surely recover every penny of Ndi Enugu fraudulently obtained by him.
