A Real Estate mogul, Olasijibomi Suji, Suji Moto, declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been captured, shedding tears in a trending video, lamenting that his reputation has been destroyed.
Suji Moto, who said he would surrender himself to the EFCC, expressed optimism that he would clear his name. In the video he personally made, he said he had no prior knowledge of the Smart School project, but that he accepted the contract as it was all about cement and sand.
According to him, he met with Governor Peter Mbah and made a proposal to build a 69-storey building. He, however, claimed that the governor told him to handle the Smart School project first. The contractor further claimed in the video that price fluctuation was behind his inability to complete the projects.
He said, “I’m not a thief. I’m not a fugitive. This is the contract between my company and the Enugu State brand. The Enugu State government asked me to help them build a couple of things, a couple of projects, which were very interesting. I was going to the state every week.
“In the middle of the project, the governor said he wanted to build a city, that he wanted to build the tallest building in Nigeria, a 69-story building. I designed it and gave it to him. He said, okay, keep it aside.
“He (the governor) said, while you are waiting for this, please help me do this, that we have money, but we don’t have people who can do it? I’ve never done this type of thing before, but I knew it was cement and concrete, and machinery. I knew it was an arrangement. I said okay, let me give it a try. I told the governor that this project is impossible because of the pricing; the cost of it is too low to build. The governor said, don’t worry, just help me do this. And later, you will make money from it and make money from the other projects, which I was very happy with.
“Right there, I mobilized and took 42 engineers to the state, and I was there doing the job. I was traveling from Ezeagu to different local governments. I had an accident where my backboard got broken, but I’m I didn’t tell anybody.
“Now, the contract got frustrated. When we took the contract, at every point, I knew that it was difficult to do it because of the pricing. Now, when we took the contract, cement was N7000. By the time we left, the cement was N10,000.
“I faced a lot of people. Sometimes we are in the villages. My staff were being shot at. Sometimes we will have some people come, and they will bring guns and shoot at them. I was still there. But at the end of the day, things went sour between myself and the government. And I was still there. If I had money, I would continue the project. But I had my other projects. I had stress on my other project that I wanted to do.
“Now they took me to court, and I said, let’s look at the entire project. How much have we spent till the last day I was in the project? I was there till the last day.
“They asked me how much we have spent on the project? They took us to court and said we don’t want to fight with the government, let’s agree. How much are we owing? And I was in agreement with them, and now they have declared me wanted.
“They have destroyed my company that I built with my sweat. But I’m going to go there. I’m going to the EFCC’s office. I’m going to go and clear my name. “In the last two, three years, prices have just gone crazy. If I’m doing my project, it’s five years delayed, something I could have done in two years. Prices of things changed.”
