“Stop shedding crocodile tears” – Enugu state government calls out Sujimoto CEO

The Enugu state government (ESG) has called out Olasijibomi Ogundele, CEO of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, over his crying theatrics, after defrauding the state of N5.7 billion.

In a statement released on Friday night, Malachy Agbo, commissioner for information in Enugu, accused Ogundele of premeditated fraud, stating that his video was just to draw public sympathy.

Earlier on Thursday, Ogundele was declared wanted by EFCC over money laundering and diversion of public funds.

Hours later, he dropped a video on social media, crying, while claiming to be innocent of the charges laid against him.

However, the ESG has attributed the video to mere theatrics, an aim to induce public opinion in his favour, thereby calling it crocodiles tears.

According to the ESG, the businessman has breached the contract between his company and the government and such is worthy of being tagged a fraud.

Agbo insisted that Ogundele presented a bond from Jaiz Bank to secure the contract, but used a Zenith Bank account to receive payment, shielding Jaiz from liability.

Speaking further, he said the N11.4 billion contract was awarded on July 2, 2024, with a six-month completion deadline and the government paid the contractor N5.7 billion upfront to fast-track the project.

“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 proved abortive,” the statement reads.

The statement added that Ogundele abandoned the sites, ignored calls, and failed to attend project briefings, prompting the government to involve the EFCC.

Agbo said a joint inspection by state officials and EFCC operatives in May 2025 showed “minimal to no significant work” on the 22 sites one year after the contract award.

He noted that some sites were not excavated and that the government has since reassigned the projects to new contractors.

Hence, the ESG has called the attention of Nigerians to not be fooled with Ogundele’s antics in generating public sympathy as the government will make sure to recover every penny from him.