By Suleiman Anyalewechi
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFFC, on Wednesday January 21, 2026, handed over the sum of N 1.28 billion to the Enugu state Government, being part of the recovery made from the funds ,allegedly, diverted by the contractor initially handling the State’s Smart School project.
The Source reports that the State Government had last year petitioned the anti-graft Commission to assist it in recovering over N5 billion paid to Lagos based real estate developer, Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited.
According to the State Government, Mr Olasijibomi Ogundele, the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of Sujimoto had allegedly diverted the said sum being part payment for the construction of 22 Smart School across the State at the total cost of about over N11 billion.
The State Government accused Ogunleye of abandoning the project after, allegedly, tricking the State into paying the said amount into his account.
Speaking during the presentation ceremony which took place at the Enugu Zonal Office of the EFCC, Daniel Ise, the Zonal Head of the Commission noted that the recovery is pursuant to the Agency’s core and statutory mandate of tracing, recovering and restituting public funds lost through criminal economic and financial activities.
He emphasized that the recovery was sequel to a formal complaint lodged with the Commission by the Enugu state Government urging it to assist in recovering the said funds.
According to the Zonal Director, the commission has, so far, recovered a total sum of N 1, 284 ,350 000.
He attributed the success recorded in the recovery efforts to the resilience, diligence and high level of professionalism exhibited by officers handling the matter.
However, he expressed the confidence that the hand over of the recovered sum will not signal the end of the investigations into the matter .
He promised that despite the success recorded so far, the Commission will continue to press on with the investigation with a view to ensuring that every Kobo lost is traced and recovered.
“As of today, we have been able to recover drafts to the tune of N1, 234 ,350,000 and additional N 50,000,000 , bringing the total to N 1,283,50,000 for the benefit of the Enugu state Government.
“This is not the end of the case. We will look at every facet of the petition to ensure that every Kobo belonging to the Enugu state Government that is not accounted for is tracked and recovered”, Ise assured.
Responding after receiving the recovered funds, the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, while appreciating the EFCC for its efforts, noted that the recovery itself underlines the commitment of the present administration towards transparency, traceability and accountability, noting that the principles are central to the governance philosophy of Governor Peter Mbah.
This is as he assured that the recovered funds will be channeled into useful ventures for the benefit of the people.
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