ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA — The Enugu State Government has recovered ₦1.27 billion from Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited following intervention by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The recovered funds came nearly a year after the firm’s CEO, Olasijibomi Ogundele, was accused of defrauding the state of close to ₦6 billion intended for the construction of 22 Smart Green Schools.
On Wednesday, EFCC officials handed over the recovered sum in cheques to the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, assuring that efforts are ongoing to retrieve the remaining funds allegedly misappropriated by the contractor.
A joint inspection by the EFCC and the Enugu State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure in May 2025 confirmed that, nearly one year after the contract award, minimal to no significant work had been done across the school sites.
The government had awarded Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited a ₦11.46 billion contract on July 2, 2024, with 50% of the sum paid upfront as mobilisation. However, investigations revealed that Ogundele deployed inexperienced workers and “quack engineers”, leaving the projects incomplete and structurally unsound.
“None of his sites met the structural integrity specified in the project plans,” the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr. Malachy Agbo, stated. Residents and project supervisors reported abandoned sites and unresponsiveness from Ogundele after receiving payments.
Following the breach, the state repossessed all project sites, reassigning them to new contractors who have restarted construction from scratch, with “tremendous progress” made ahead of the September school resumption.
The EFCC had previously declared Ogundele wanted for fraud and money laundering related to the project. The Enugu State Government reiterated its commitment to recovering all funds, urging Nigerians to disregard Ogundele’s “theatrics and crocodile tears.”
