A former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, has been declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged fraud.
Agunloye served as minister of power and steel under former President Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 and 2003.The anti-graft agency, in a post on its X account on Wednesday, appealed to Nigerians with information about his whereabouts to report to the nearest police station or the commission.
It partly reads, “Dr. U Agunloye is wanted by the EFCC. You know his whereabout? Please don’t hesitate to inform the EFCC or the nearest Police Station.”
The EFCC had earlier invited Agunloye for questioning over his role in the $6 billion Mambila hydropower contract, but he declined their invitation.
Obasanjo had earlier accused Agunloye of mismanaging the power project and challenged Agunloye to inform Nigerians how he got approval without the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to award a $6 billion contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd. in respect of the project in 2003.
Reacting to the claims, Agunloye stated that 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.
He also claimed that the government was not mandated to pay a kobo to Sunrise under the build, operate, and transfer (BOT) agreement as it was to be fully funded by the newly registered company, whose declared assets were worth less than $2,000 at the time.
The former minister was quizzed by the EFCC over the controversy and a suspicious payment that was reportedly traced to his bank account.