Businessman Olasijibomi Ogundele, chief executive officer of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, has broken his silence after the EFCC declared him wanted on Friday.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the anti-graft agency listed the socialite as wanted over alleged diversion of funds and money laundering.
In a notice signed by its spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, on Friday, the EFCC urged Nigerians with information on Mr Ogundele’s whereabouts to contact the agency.
Hours later, a viral video surfaced online in which Mr Ogundele, visibly emotional, insisted he was innocent of any wrongdoing.
The real estate developer, who broke down in tears, explained that the allegations were linked to a contract between his company and the Enugu State Government.
Mr Ogundele said, “I’m not a thief, I’m not a fugitive. This is a contract between my company and the Enugu State Government. They asked me to help them build a couple of projects, which were very interesting. I was going to the state every week. In the middle of the project, the governor said he wanted to build a city. He wanted to build the tallest building in Nigeria, a 69-story building.
“I designed it and gave it to him. He said Keep it aside and said, while we’re waiting for this, please help me with this school, that we have money, but we don’t have people who can do it. I’ve never done this type of school before, but I knew it was cement and concrete and machinery. I knew it was an arrangement, so I said Let me give it a try. I told the governor this project is impossible because of the price, the cost of it is too low to build.”
Sincerity
Mr Ogundele insisted that he undertook the project with utmost sincerity but lamented that inflation and prolonged delays worsened the situation.
The real estate mogul, who didn’t disclose which administration awarded him the contract, added that the governor warned he might not profit from the school project but could recover his investment through earlier projects.
“I was very happy. Right there, I mobilised 42 engineers to the states. I took a house in the state. I love the state. I went to the state and I was there doing the job. I was travelling from Ezeagu to different local governments. I had an accident where my back got broken, but I didn’t tell anybody. Now, the contract was frustrated. When we took the contract, at every point, I knew that it was difficult to do it because of the pricing.
“When we took the contract, cement was N7,000, by the time we left, cement was N10,000. I faced a lot of people. Sometimes we’re in the villages, and my staff are being shot at. Sometimes, they will have some people come, and they will bring guns and shoot at them. I was still there. But at the end of the day, things went sour between me and the government. And I was still there. If I had money, I would continue the project, but I have my other projects. I had stress on my other project that I wanted to do”, said Mr Ogundele.
I’ll clear my name
He further stated that being declared wanted had damaged his company’s reputation.
Mr Ogundele added that he will present himself to the EFCC to clear his name.
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He said, “They took me to court. And I said let’s look at the entire project. How much have we spent? Till the last day, I was in the project. We told the court, we don’t want to fight with the government. Let’s agree. How much do we owe you? I agreed with them, and now they declare me wanted.
“They destroyed my company that I built, and they abused me. But I’m going to go there. I’m going to the EFCC office. I’m going to go and clear my name. In the last two, three years, prices have just gone crazy. Five years delay. Something I could have done in two years. Prices have just changed. The economy went sour on me.”
