Olu Agunloye, a former minister of power and steel, has been declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

On its X handle on Wednesday, the EFCC stated that Agunloye was wanted over a corruption and forgery allegation.

READ ALSO: EFCC’s Proposed 2024 Budget Is 86 Percent Higher Than the Last. Here’s a Breakdown

WANTED BY THE EFCC: OLU AGUNLOYE

Anyone with useful information as to his whereabouts should contact the EFCC or the nearest police station.#SayNoToCorruption#TowardsABetterNigeria pic.twitter.com/TYcSOzwrZW

— EFCC Nigeria (@officialEFCC) December 13, 2023

“Olu, 75, is from Akoko North Local Government Area, Ondo State.
His last known address: No 20 Sold Boneh Way, Bodija, Ibadan,” the EFCC stated.

“Anybody with useful information as to his whereabouts should please contact the Commission in its Benin, Kaduna, Ibadan, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Makurdi, Ilorin, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Gombe, Uyo, Port Harcourt and Abuja offices or through this number +2348093322644; its e-mail address: [email protected] or the nearest Police Station and other security agencies.”

WANTED FOR $6 BILLION FRAUD?

Although the EFCC did not disclose the details of the corruption and forgery case, there are speculations that it may be connected to controversies surrounding a $6 billion Mambilla hydropower contract.

The contract was first awarded in 2003 to Sunrise Power and Transmission Limited during the Olusegun Obasanjo-led administration.

In an interview with TheCable newspaper in September, Obasanjo alleged that Agunloye fraudulently awarded the contract for the project without the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC). But Agunloye would later refute the allegation.

While clarifying the nature of the contract for the Mambilla Power Project, Agunloye disclosed in a statement that it was awarded under his watch as a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract in May 2003, for which the federal government did not need to pay any amount to the contractor.

In this arrangement, a contractor is tasked with sourcing funds and executing a project solely on their own financial resources.

FIJ found local reports which stated that in September, the EFCC quizzed Agunloye over the controversy and a suspicious payment that was traced to his bank account.

READ ALSO: EFCC Contradicts Itself in New Statement to Explain Olukoyede’s Internet Fraud Remark

It was reported that the EFCC traced a payment made by a Sunrise Power official with the description “FRM LENO” to Agunloye’s account. The payment was said to have been made after the ex-minister committed the federal government to the power project awarded to the contractor.

EFCC’s investigation also showed that Agunloye seemed to have spent the money on shopping and transportation around Orlando Florida, United States.

FIJ contacted Dele Oyewale, EFCC’s spokesperson, via a text on Wednesday, to know if Agunloye was declared wanted over the contract, but no response had been received at press time.