How Sujimoto CEO, Ogundele, Defrauded Enugu State Government of N5.7bn –

How Sujimoto CEO, Ogundele, Defrauded Enugu State Government of N5.7bn – (According to Enugu State Official accuses him of premeditated fraud)

The Enugu State Government has accused the CEO of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, Olasijibomi Ogundele, of defrauding the state of nearly N6bn, noting that Ogundele vanished into thin air after he was paid the said sum for the construction of 22 Smart Green Schools in different parts of the state.

The government also accused Ogundele of premeditated fraud, explaining that while he presented a bond issued by Jaiz Bank to secure the contract, he used the company’s Zenith Bank account registered with the state’s Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to receive the said payment, making it impossible for the state to hold Jaiz Bank liable.

The clarifications were contained in a statement issued by the Enugu State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr. Malachy Agbo, on Friday.

The statement said, “For the avoidance of doubt, on July 2, 2024, the Enugu State Government awarded a contract in the sum of N11,457,930,950.52 to Sujimoto Luxury Construction Ltd for the construction of 22 Smart Schools (buildings only) in six months starting from the date of the acceptance of the award.

“The Enugu State Government paid the sum of N5,762,565,475.25, representing 50 per cent of the contract sum, in order to fast-track the projects at all the sites.

“Rather than play to the rules of the contract to deliver quality projects for furnishing and equipping ahead of September 2025 school resumption, in line with the priority placed on the Smart Green Schools initiative by the government, Mr. Ogundele resorted to shoddy jobs and the use of inexperienced workers and quack engineers. None of his sites met the structural integrity of the projects as specified in the structural drawing.

“Worse still, he vanished into thin air with the money. All efforts made by the government to get him to a roundtable to discuss the quality and progress of work proved abortive. He equally refused to attend the periodic projects briefing organised by the state government for all contractors or take numerous calls and messages put across to him. In fact, he practically abandoned the sites, leaving the Enugu State Government with no other choice than to petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to recover the funds paid to him.

“A joint team of officers of the Enugu State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure and the EFCC visited the 22 sites to evaluate the progress of work on May 8 and 9, 2025, where it was clearly established that there had been minimal to no significant work done at the said sites one year after the contract award. In some cases, he fraudulently did not do excavation for all the blocks in site.

“It is also on record that he has not shown up at the sites or made himself available to either the state government or the law enforcement agencies even after those site visits.

“It is also pertinent to state that it was discovered in the course of investigation that whereas he presented a bond from Jaiz Bank, he used Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited’s Zenith Bank account number 1312731196
to receive the said payment and draw down the fund without deploying it to the projects. This clearly shows a premeditated intent to defraud the state ab initio.

“The government has since retaken and handed over the sites to new firms, who has no choice than to start the construction afresh. Tremendous progress has been made to keep the determination of the Mbah Administration to migrate Enugu children to Smart Green Schools by September on track.

“Nigerians should therefore disregard his theatrics and crocodile tears, as Enugu State Government is determined to and will surely recover every penny of Ndi Enugu fraudulently obtained by Mr. Olasijibomi Ogundele (Sujimoto).”

The Enugu State Government’s statement was accompanied with pictures of the project sites as abandoned by Sujimoto, which were taken by the joint team of officials of the state and operatives of the EFCC during the May 8 and 9 site visits.

The pictures clearly showed that the project sites were mostly at the levels of foundation and DPC, with a few at the stage of block work.

*The Sujimoto–Enugu Smart Schools saga should worry anyone who cares about governance and social accountability in Nigeria.*

Babatunde Akintunde

Here is a contractor who openly admits he had never handled a similar project before. Yet he was handed a ₦11 billion legacy project—22 Smart Schools, with the expectation that they’d all be completed in just six months. From the start, that timeline sounded unrealistic. Even in places with stronger systems, such projects take longer. So why set up the state, and the contractor, for failure from the get go?

Then there’s the claim that he was promised other contracts without a formal bid. If that is true, what happened to due process? Procurement laws were meant to stop this exact thing where projects awarded on promises and connections instead of competence.

The numbers also raise questions. ₦11 billion for 22 schools is about ₦520 million per school. Maybe the facilities justify it, but where is the detailed breakdown for citizens to see? Without transparency, it is hard not to suspect inflation.

And then there is the gist about the Jaiz Bank bond that suddenly turned into payments sent through Zenith Bank? Bonds are supposed to protect the government if a contractor defaults. If the money went elsewhere, what protection really existed?

Even more troubling is that this is not the first time Sujimoto’s name has come up in similar controversies. In 2020, he allegedly collected $325,000 (about ₦260 million) from a client for a property deal and failed to deliver the project or refund the money leading to his arrest by the Force Criminal Investigations Department in Abuja. With such history, how did he still qualify for a multi-billion naira “legacy project” meant to define a state’s educational future?

At the end of the day, whether Sujimoto is guilty or not, this is bigger than one man. It is about how governments make decisions, how projects are handed out, and why systems that should protect public money keep failing. In normal societies, you will see vibrant parliaments asking questions with real oversight capabilities, but in Nigeria it’s all vibes. Fingers crossed on what becomes of this issue. Will there be real prosecution or it will fizzle out in 72 hours until another issue distracts us from this again?

Sujimoto is an eye opener
*The Sujimoto–Enugu Smart Schools saga should worry anyone who cares about governance and social accountability in Nigeria.*

Babatunde Akintunde

Here is a contractor who openly admits he had never handled a similar project before. Yet he was handed a ₦11 billion legacy project—22 Smart Schools, with the expectation that they’d all be completed in just six months. From the start, that timeline sounded unrealistic. Even in places with stronger systems, such projects take longer. So why set up the state, and the contractor, for failure from the get go?

Then there’s the claim that he was promised other contracts without a formal bid. If that is true, what happened to due process? Procurement laws were meant to stop this exact thing where projects awarded on promises and connections instead of competence.

The numbers also raise questions. ₦11 billion for 22 schools is about ₦520 million per school. Maybe the facilities justify it, but where is the detailed breakdown for citizens to see? Without transparency, it is hard not to suspect inflation.

And then there is the gist about the Jaiz Bank bond that suddenly turned into payments sent through Zenith Bank? Bonds are supposed to protect the government if a contractor defaults. If the money went elsewhere, what protection really existed?

Even more troubling is that this is not the first time Sujimoto’s name has come up in similar controversies. In 2020, he allegedly collected $325,000 (about ₦260 million) from a client for a property deal and failed to deliver the project or refund the money leading to his arrest by the Force Criminal Investigations Department in Abuja. With such history, how did he still qualify for a multi-billion naira “legacy project” meant to define a state’s educational future?

At the end of the day, whether Sujimoto is guilty or not, this is bigger than one man. It is about how governments make decisions, how projects are handed out, and why systems that should protect public money keep failing. In normal societies, you will see vibrant parliaments asking questions with real oversight capabilities, but in Nigeria it’s all vibes. Fingers crossed on what becomes of this issue. Will there be real prosecution or it will fizzle out in 72 hours until another issue distracts us from this again?
A Yoruba man went to the far east

To the capital of Igbo land

And cornered a contract of over 11 billion naira

From the state government

I hope Onanuga is listening

The contract was to build schools

Not sure the guy even lives in Enugu

The omoyigbo governor gives him the contract

And pays him 50% upfront

Now that’s something.

I hope Abike Dabiri and the Ronus are listening

This guy takes the money and literally elopes

The state goes to the EFCC

He is declared wanted

Now imagine an Igbo man

Who lives in Umuahia

Jumping into lagos and cornering a contract of 11 Billion

Amd after collecting 50% upfront

He elopes

Doesn’t build the schools he is supposed to build

The internet will shut down

Progressives will ask for the head and scrotum

Of the governor

All Igbos will bear the brunt of months of mockery and villification

Some lousy politicians will call for the prohibition of Igbos from all contracts and building projects in Lagos

“Because in Igbo land , a yoruba man cannot get anything ‼️”

Thank you Sujimoto. Suji Enugu

It’s One Nigeria”…..Ugo Egbujo

My Comment:

A friend who worked for Enugu State Government during Sullivan Chime’s tenure said this as response to the video and government’s rebuttal I shared with him;

“The public procurement act allows you to mobilise only up to 30% for special reasons such as project urgency and that has to be with exco approval. We had to write specifically to exco to request that for xxxxxxxxx during our job on xxxxxxxxxxxx. Exco summoned me to defend the request.

Peter doesn’t observe due process in his contract awards and administration, and this is the result.

Enugu State currently gives out contracts without the stipulated tender [or bidding] process, without formal contract documents [the contract drawings and specifications, the contract bills and the articles of the contract], and without consultancy. The governor simply selects contractors to perform contracts based on personal relationships. There are no pre-qualification processes for contractors, no mechanisms for the required administration of the contracts, and so no supervision. They’re getting what they asked for.”