It is no longer news that the real reason behind the 10-day abduction of FIJ reporter Daniel Ojukwu by the Nigeria Police Force is his investigative report on financial mismanagement in the office of the senior special assistant to the president on SDGs (OSSAP-SDGs).

When the police picked Ojukwu on May 1, none of his colleagues, friends and family knew his whereabouts, as the they barred him from contacting anyone.

It wasn’t until May 3 that FIJ learned that Ojukwu, who had been reported missing in police stations the previous day, was being held at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Panti, Lagos. FIJ also gathered that he was arrested by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector General of Police.

READ ALSO: Police Abduct FIJ Reporter Daniel Ojukwu ‘On IGP’s Orders’

FIJ would also learn that the arrest followed a petition by Muiz Banire, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), regarding FIJ’s November 2023 story detailing how Orelope-Adefulire, with two weeks left of Buhari’s administration, sent N147.1 million for the construction of classrooms and a skill acquisition centre to the account of Enseno Global Ventures (Enseno GV), an Abuja-based restaurant.

READ ALSO: ‘It’s Standard Investigative Procedure’ — Force PRO Defends 10-Day Abduction of FIJ Reporter

Following the release of Ojukwu a day after journalists and civil society actors protested at the Force Headquarters, the police said he would be arraigned upon the conclusion of their investigations.

But, is a journalist unearthing corruption the one the police should be arraigning? FIJ is offering help to the police by compiling a list of 10 people related to this case that the police must arraign before Ojukwu.

ADEJOKE ORELOPE-ADEFULIRE

As the head of the office that awarded the contract for the suspicious project, Orelope-Adefulire should be on the list.

Before FIJ’s reports went out, attempts were made to contact her office, including through the use of the Freedom of Information Act, but no response was received.

The FoI Act stipulates that “where a case of wrongful denial of access is established, the defaulting officer or institution commits an
offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N500,000″.

But beyond this, and beyond the documents the police claimed were tendered by the complainants, the police should be conducting their own independent investigations into the questionable ‘execution’ of the project.

In an unbiased court, the claims that the school project was relocated elsewhere after they found that the soil in the original location could not take the buildings and that there was no space to build the primary school would be thrown out. How can a government office release N147.1m without first conducting soil testing or determining the availability of space for the project?

NKIRU EZEKWESILI, OWNER OF ENSENO GV RESTAURANT

When Ojukwu contacted Nkiru Ezekwesili, the owner of the Abuja-based restaurant Orelope-Adefulire’s office paid N147.1 million to for a block of classrooms and skill acquisition centre in Lagos State, she said she was not aware of such a contract.

One of the uncovered discrepancies showed that the restaurant did the construction projects before the federal government paid for it.

Also, as of 2023, it was found that the company was inactive, which meant the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) did not have its tax records. Since the company was registered in 2019, it was supposed to have three years of tax clearance before the government could award contracts to it. But FIJ found otherwise: the construction projects were completed in 2022, two years and six months after the company was registered and one year before the government paid for it!

READ ALSO: How Orelope Adefulire’s OSSAP-SDGs Paid N47.5m for Shady Contract on Amosun’s Request

HONOURABLE SAHEED AJETUNMOBI

In the course of the reportage, FIJ learned that one Honourable Saheed Ajetunmobi hired an architect identified as Akin Ajani to be involved in the construction projects.

Efforts to contact Honourable Ajetunmobi for comments on the identified discrepancies surrounding the contract were unsuccessful.

AKIN AJANI

It was Ajani who revealed that the buildings were moved from their original location to a new one because of soil and space-related issues.

But he refused to ascertain the qualification of the restaurant to embark on the construction project. He also did not disclose how much it cost to construct the buildings.

ADEBISI ABDULWASIU

The day after FIJ published the first report, Ezekwesili, who had initially denied knowledge of the contract, reached out, saying she was not the one who took the contract. She would then send the phone number of Adebisi Abdulwasiu, whom she revealed had taken the contract.

When FIJ was eventually able to reach Abdulwasiu after multiple attempts, he said he was unavailable and would get back to the reporter. But he never did. Well, perhaps he will tomorrow.

MUHAMMED MUSA BAGANA

Also after the first publication, one Muhammed Musa Bagana, a lawyer who claimed that ENSENO GV, was his client, contacted FIJ.

He wanted FIJ to stop calling Ezekwesili, Abdulwasiu and others related to the company. This is despite admitting that his clients had violated procurement laws. If he doesn’t get arraigned by the police, who else should?

NKIRU EZEKWESILI’S SON

In the course of FIJ’s interview with Bagana in 2023, he disclosed that Ezekwesili’s son got the contracts in the company’s name and sent others to execute.

After claiming that Ezekwesili was unaware that her company received the money, Bagana refused to divulge any information about the son who got the contract.

FIJ’s findings revealed Ezekwesili’s son was using his mother’s company to win contracts and give others. Abdulwasiu and even Bagana played some part in this, FIJ learned. So, yes, Ezekwesili’s son has some explaining to do in court dock!

READ ALSO: One Week After OSSAP-SDGs Built Classroom Blocks in Amosun’s District, Solar Panels Stop Working

JUNAID ABDULLAHI

A report quoted in FIJ’s publication revealed that Junaid Abdullahi, a son-in-law of former President Buhari who headed the Border Communities Development Agency (BDCA), was awarding contracts to unqualified companies.

FIJ would discover that Bagana’s company, identified as E-Concept Technologies Limited, was one of these unqualified companies.

There’s definitely more he can tell us in court if only the police would arraign him.

SENATOR IBIKUNLE AMOSUN

Another FIJ report gathered that the OSSAP-SDGs paid N47.5m for a shady contract on the request of Senator Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State in February 2023.

The OSSAP-SDGs paid the money for a vague six blocks of classrooms in the senatorial district Amosun was representing at the time.

It was also found that his name appeared on a signpost as the the facilitator for the project the federal government paid for.

Efforts to get comments from Amosun were futile, as the calls and texts to his known phone numbers were not responded to. Perhaps the court’s efforts for such comments would not be futile.

OWNERS OF TRU 3 NIGERIA LIMITED

The N47.5 million that was paid for the six blocks of classrooms in Amosun’s senatorial district was paid to Tru 3 Nigeria Limited.

FIJ would find that the company was equally inactive on the CAC website, which indicates that the owners had not filed reports to the commission.

FIJ also found that between October 2021 and February 2023, the federal government, through the OSSAP-SDGS, had paid a total of N586 million to this company for five contracts.

When the roof of one of the hospitals built by Tru 3 Nigeria Limited was blown off, the contractor went mum, and staff had to repair it themselves. Nigerians would surely be grateful if the police unearthed the faces behind Tru and brought them to court!