• Says ‘I’m not a thief or fugitive’
Chief Executive Officer of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, Sijibomi Ogundele, has vowed to clear his name after being declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged diversion of funds and money laundering.
In a video shared online, a visibly emotional Ogundele said tearfully that the matter arose from a contractual dispute with the Enugu State Government and not from any act of criminality.
“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.
“I’m not a thief, I’m not a fugitive. This is a contract between my company and Enugu State Government,” he said, stressing that the latter asked him “to help them build a couple of things.” But, “In the middle of the project, the governor said he wanted to build a city, and he wanted to build the tallest building in Nigeria.
“I was in agreement with the government after they took us to court. Now they declared me wanted, they destroyed my company that I built. I am going to the EFCC office to clear my name. In the last five years, prices have gone crazy; something I could have done in two years was delayed.”
The EFCC, in a notice signed by its spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, and published on its official X handle had, on Friday, urged anyone with information on Ogundele’s whereabouts to contact its offices nationwide. The Commission described him as a 44-year-old indigene of Ori-Ade Local Government Area of Osun State, with his last known address at G29, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos.
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The anti-graft agency has not disclosed the amount allegedly involved in the case, but its notice confirmed that the businessman is under investigation for major financial crimes.
Ogundele’s declaration comes months after a separate controversy in October 2024, when he was detained by the police at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) in Abuja.
Then, he was accused in a petition by human rights lawyer Pelumi Olajengbesi of obtaining $325,000 from one Kabiru Ibrahim under false pretences as payment for a non-existent housing project. He was later released.
The police had received a petition written by Olajengbesi, accusing Ogundele of obtaining the sum of $325,000 from one Kabiru Ibrahim by false pretence in November 2020.
In the petition, Olajengbesi alleged that after Ibrahim handed Ogundele the sum as 50 per cent payment for a three-bedroom flat in an estate, it was later discovered that Ogundele’s company did not have such a housing project ongoing.
For now, Ogundele maintains that he is ready to cooperate with investigators and defend his reputation. “In the last five years, prices have gone crazy. Something I could have done in two years was delayed. But I will face this and clear my name,” he said.