The Chief Executive Officer of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, Olasijibomi Ogundele, who was declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged fraud and money laundering, has spoken out from his hiding.

In a video seen by SaharaReporters on Friday, Ogundele denied the allegations, insisting that he was neither a criminal nor on the run.

SaharaReporters earlier reported that the EFCC, in a statement issued by its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, on Friday, declared Ogundele wanted for alleged diversion of funds and money laundering.

The anti-graft commission called on members of the public with helpful information about Ogundele’s whereabouts to provide such information to the commission.

But denying the allegation, Ogundele in the video said, “I’m not a thief nor am I a fugitive. This is a contract between my company and the Enugu State Government.”

Ogundele explained that the controversy stemmed from construction contracts awarded to his company by the Enugu State Government.

According to him, he was invited to design and oversee a series of projects, including what was initially envisioned as Nigeria’s tallest building.

“The Enugu State Government asked me to help them build a couple of projects, which were very interesting.

“I was going to the state every week. At the beginning of the project, the governor said he wanted to build a city, and he wanted to build the tallest building in Nigeria, a 69-storey building.

“I designed it and gave it to him. He said I should keep that aside,” Ogundele said.

He added that he was later asked to build schools, despite his concerns that the contract cost was too low.

VIDEO: Wanted Sujimoto CEO, Olasijibomi Ogundele Reacts After Being Declared Wanted By EFCC pic.twitter.com/MchoOsqK9S

— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) September 5, 2025

“He said, while we are waiting for this, I should help him do some schools. That they have money but they don’t have people that can do it,” he said.

“I have never done this kind of school before, but I knew it was cement and concrete and machine, because I knew it was an arrangement, so I decided to give it a try.

“I told the governor that this project is impossible because of the cost of it, it is too low to build. The governor said I shouldn’t worry. That I should just help him build the schools.

“That I won’t make money from the schools, but I would make money from the other projects, which I was very happy with,” Ogundele explained.

The Sujimoto boss said he mobilised 42 engineers to the state and also relocated to ensure the projects took off.

However, he alleged that inflation, insecurity, and other unforeseen challenges frustrated the contracts.

“I mobilized 42 engineers to the state, I took a house in the state and moved to the state, and I was there doing the job. I was driving from Ezeagu to different local governments.

“I had an accident that my back got broken but I didn’t tell anybody. The contract got frustrated,” Ogundele said.

He noted that the rising cost of materials made the projects financially unviable.

He said, “When we took the contract, at every point, I knew that it was difficult to do because of the pricing. When we took the contract, cement was N7,000 per bag, but by the time we left, cement was N10,000 per bag.

“I faced a lot of people. Sometimes we were in the villages where my staff were shot at. Sometimes they would have some people come with guns and shoot at them, but I was still there.”

According to him, despite the setbacks, he sought an amicable resolution with the state government.

“But at the end of the day, things went sour between myself and the government. And I was still there. If I have money I would have continued the project but I had other projects and I had stress from my other projects that I wanted to do.

“They took me to court and I said we should look at the entire project and know how much we have spent. Till the last day, I was in the project. I told the court that I do not want to fight the government.

“Let us agree, how much do we owe you? And I had an agreement with them. Now they are declaring me wanted. They destroyed my company that I built with hard work,” he lamented.

Dismissing the allegations of fraud, Ogundele maintained that his company’s struggles were a result of the harsh economic climate rather than any wrongdoing.

“But I will go to the EFCC office and clear my name. In the last three years, prices have gone crazy.

“If I’m doing my project, it is delaying, and something I could have done in two years is delaying for five years because prices of things just changed, and they could not waste time on me,” he said.

Ogundele was previously detained at the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID) in Abuja for alleged fraud and was released on bail in October 2024.

It was reported that Ogundele was detained by the police after a human rights lawyer Pelumi Olajengbesi, petitioned the police and accused Ogundele of obtaining by false pretence the sum of $325,000 from one Kabiru Ibrahim on November 5, 2020.

The lawyer alleged that the money was meant for the 50% payment of the agreed total of $650,000 for a property consisting of one unit of a three-bedroom flat located in Leonardo Estate by Sujimoto Home.

“In 2020, Mr. Sijibomi Ogundele approached our client and fraudulently represented himself and the company, offering to sell one unit of a three-bedroom flat at an estate known as Leonardo by Sujimoto Home, supported by a brochure depicting the property,” the petition read.

“The property was advertised for $750,000, with consideration given to our client if 50% was paid immediately, reducing the price to $650,000 after a meeting held between our client and Mr. Sijibomi Ogundele.

“Our client accepted the offer and made a payment of $325,000, acknowledged by Sujimoto Construction Limited on 5 November 2020, constituting 50% of the agreed sum of $650,000.

“Expecting construction progress and updates on our client’s property, our client was surprised to learn that there was no such project underway, and the money was taken under the pretence of a purported development.”

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