Enugu State Government disclosed it has successfully recovered a total amount of N1.27 billion from Mr. Olasijibomi Ogundele, the CEO of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Ltd.
The company is being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over claims that money meant for building Smart Green Schools in the state was misused.
The amount that was recovered, which came from money the company was been paid for projects that were supposed to be completed, was officially given to the state government on Wednesday at the EFCC Enugu Zonal Office. This was done using several bank drafts and cheques.
The EFCC Zonal Director in Enugu, Daniel Ise, said presenting the cheques was in line with the agency’s duty to find, get back, and return public money that was lost because of economic and financial crimes.
He said the recovery came after the Enugu State Government filed a petition, which made the Commission launch investigation.
“As of today, we have recovered cheques amounting to N1,234,350,000 and another N50,000,000, making the total N1,284,350,000 for the Enugu State Government,” Ise said.
“This does not mean the case is over,” he said, adding that “we will examine all parts of the petition to make sure every kobo that belongs to the Enugu State Government and hasn’t been accounted for is found and brought back.”
Receiving the cheques and drafts on behalf of the state government, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) , Prof. Chidiebere Onyia thanked the EFCC for its professionalism, focus, and determination.
“When there was a mismatch between our goal to use taxpayers’ money for development and the actual results we saw, we turned to the EFCC to help get the funds back. today marks the start of the recovery process, and we’re happy with what’s been achieved so far,” he said.
