The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) invited and grilled Sijibomi Ogundele, CEO of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, over an alleged N5.7 billion contract fraud involving his construction company and the Enugu State government.
Sujimoto was invited to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja around 8 p.m., where he was grilled over an alleged diversion of $5.7 billion belonging to the Enugu State government. This followed a petition to the EFCC by the Enugu State government last month on the issue after attempts to reach the Sujimoto camp proved abortive.
The Anti-Graft organisation froze the personal account of Sijibomi Ogundele and Sujimoto Corporate account pending the outcome of their investigation.
” The Chief Executive Officer of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited has surrendered to our commission, and we immediately took him into custody.” An EFCC source told The Nation
“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 those of his company pending the conclusion of the preliminary investigation. We will also seize his passport to restrict his movement within the country.” The Source explained, detailing the investigation process.
Backstory
The Enugu State Government contracted Sijibomi Ogundele, CEO of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, to construct 22 smart schools for the contract sum of N11 billion.
The Enugu state government initially wanted to pay 30% of the total contract sum as mobilization, but the Sujimoto CEO pleaded for 50% promising to finish the job at record time.
The Enugu State Government doled out N5.7 billion (50% Mobilisation) to Sujimoto Limited, which unfortunately did not deliver as promised and spent only about N750 million according to the estimates of the Joint investigation team.
Efforts to reach the Sujimoto CEO proved abortive as he stopped visiting the Construction sites and refused to honour an EFCC invitation.
The Anti-Graft Commission declared him wanted and released his mugshot to the General public.
The Enugu state government is embarking on an ambitious project of constructing 263 smart green schools across the 263 political wards of the state.
The schools were meant to be completed before the September 2025 school resumption, but bureaucracy and unforeseen pitfalls have stalled most of the projects.
Infoeast View
- The spat between Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited and the Enugu State Government could have been easily avoided if proper due diligence had been done on both sides.
- The Enugu Government ignored the red flag of Sujimoto, issuing a bond with Jaiz Bank and collecting the contract sum with a Zenith Bank account. This is too big an error for an official state government to make, and critics who believe the Enugu state government is culpable cannot be faulted.
- Sujimoto, in his viral video, claimed that the price of building materials has jumped, and he was stuck in the project. This is a rookie error or an excuse to make, given that the services of a good quantity surveyor could have easily fixed the problem. The collection of the Contract sum with a different account number also points towards a premeditated attempt to defraud the state.
- The Enugu state people are the real victims of the fallout because a smart school project aimed at revamping the educational system in the state is on the ropes due to easily avoidable issues.
