EFCC declare former minister Olu Agunloye wanted over power project corruption scandal

FORMER minister of power and steel Dr Olu Agunloye has been declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged case of corruption and forgery while he was in office.

His woes began when former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo accused Dr Agunloye of mismanaging the power project during his tenure from 1999 to 2003 and failing to brief him on the state of the project. In a recent interview, Chief Obasanjo claimed that Dr Agunloye fraudulently awarded the contract for the power project without the approval of the Federal Executive Council.

Chief Obasanjo challenged Dr Agunloye, 75, to tell Nigerians where he derived the authority to award a $6bn contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission in respect of the project in 2003. In his response, Dr Agunloye said the nature of the initial contract for the Mambilla Power Project was awarded as a build, operate and transfer contract in May 2003 under his watch.

Dr Agunloye, who hails from Akoko North Local Government Area of Ondo State was declared wanted by the anti-graft agency.  In 2016, Dr Agunloye joined the Social Democratic Party and became the party’s candidate in the Ondo State governorship election but lost out to incumbent Rotimi Akeredolu.

An EFCC spokesman said: “Anybody with useful information as to his whereabouts should please contact the commission in its Benin, Kaduna, Ibadan, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Mardi, Ilorin, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Gombe, Uyo, Port Harcourt, and Abuja offices or contact 08093322644 or email info@efcc.gov.ng or the nearest police station and any other security agencies.”