Sujimoto Started Refunding N5.7Billion For the Abandoned Smart School Project – Enugu Gov Peter Mbah

Despite the contract award in July 2024, the company failed to meet the six-month deadline for completion, prompting the Enugu State Government to terminate the contract and petition the EFCC.

The EFCC subsequently declared Ogundele wanted for alleged diversion of funds and money laundering.

In a viral video, Ogundele claimed that the contract was underpriced and that inflation hindered project execution. However, the Enugu State Government refuted these claims, stating that Ogundele’s firm did substandard work and abandoned the sites.

The EFCC had secured a court order to detain Ogundele, and the agency had been working to recover the allegedly diverted funds. The Enugu State Government has also retaken possession of the abandoned sites and handed them over to new contractors.

In September, the EFCC declared Ogundele wanted for alleged diversion of funds and money laundering.

The anti-graft commission, in a statement issued by its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, called on members of the public with helpful information about Ogundele’s whereabouts to provide such information to the commission.

“Ogundele is a 44-year-old indigene of Ori-Ade Local Government Area of Osun State, and his last known address is G29, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos State,” the anti-graft agency said.

“Anybody with useful information as to his whereabouts should please contact the commission in its Ibadan, Uyo, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Benin, Makurdi, Kaduna, Ilorin, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Gombe, Port Harcourt, or Abuja offices.”