The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has begun the interrogation of the Chief Executive of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, Sijibomi Ogundele, in Abuja over an alleged diversion of about N5.7bn meant for the construction of 22 Smart Schools in Enugu State.
The interrogation spanned through last night. EFCC had earlier frozen his accounts and that of his firm pending the outcome of preliminary investigations.
He was awarded over N11bn contract by the state government to build Smart Schools. The state initially approved the payment of 30 per cent of the contract sum, but he pleaded for 50 per cent to enable him to complete the project in a record time.
The Commissioner of Information, Enugu State, Dr Malachy Agbo, had in a release stated that the conceded N5.7bn, represented 50 percent of the contract sum.
The government, however, claimed that the worth of the project he executed was about N750m.
A source in EFCC said that, “The Chief Executive 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.”
Ogundele had in a trending video vowed to clear his name after being declared wanted by the EFCC.
According to him, “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. The problem is the increasing prices of building materials.”