Smart Schools: Enugu Govt Receives ₦1.28bn Recovered From Sujimoto

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Wednesday, handed over the sum of ₦1.2bn recovered from Sujimoto Luxury Construction Ltd.

The state had petitioned the company following its failure to deliver on the construction of some Smart Green Schools awarded to it by the state government.

The recovered sum is the advance payments made to the company by the state for the execution of the projects. It was handed over to the state government at the EFCC Enugu Zonal Office.

During the presentation, the EFCC Zonal Director in Enugu, Mr Daniel Ise, said the recovery was in fulfilment of EFCC’s obligation to trace, recover, and return public funds lost to economic and financial crimes.

He said, “We have recovered drafts amounting to ₦1,234,350,000 and an additional ₦50,000,000, bringing the total recovery to ₦1,284,350,000 for the benefit of the Enugu State Government.”

He said the success in the recovery was a result of diligence and professionalism of EFCC investigators. He nonetheless said the investigations on the matter were still ongoing.

According to him, where evidence of criminal conduct was established, the anti-graft agency would not hesitate to prosecute in accordance with the law.

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof Chidiebere Onyia, who received the cheque on behalf of the state, commended the EFCC for its professionalism in handling the matter.

He said, “When we noticed a misalignment between our developmental objectives and project delivery, we approached the EFCC to help recover the funds. The government remains determined to hold all defaulting contractors accountable.”