Governor Adeleke Drags Tinubu’s Minister, Oyetola To EFCC Over $20m, N1.5bn Theft

Governor Adeleke has dragged President Tinubu’s Minister, Oyetola to EFCC over alleged $20m and N1.5bn theft.

 

NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the Osun State Government has officially petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate former governor and current Minister of Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, over allegations of mismanaging a $20 million World Bank health grant.

 

The government led by Governor Ademola Adeleke accused Oyetola of financial misconduct, money laundering, and violations of the Public Procurement Act in handling funds meant to improve the state’s healthcare sector.

 

According to a petition dated March 7, 2025, Oyetola chaired a special Health Intervention Committee during his tenure as governor, which allocated the entire $20 million to renovate 320 primary healthcare centers across the state. However, the government claims that these contracts were awarded without proper bidding and instead given to individuals closely linked to the former governor, including cabinet members, government agency heads, and personal associates.

 

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In the petition written by the government’s lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, it was stated, “In flagrant violations of the above clear provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007, Oyetola did not call for bidding as mandatorily required under the PPA, let alone allowing competition which would have afforded the state the best qualified contractors to handle the projects. Rather, the former governor in observing the provisions of the Act in breach, awarded the contracts to individuals who were either his cabinet members, head of one agency of government or the other, his proxies and cronies who claimed to have incorporated business names/inactive companies.”

 

The government further alleged that the beneficiaries of these contracts included businesses with no prior experience in construction, such as food vendors, salon operators, supermarket owners, and web designers.

 

Among the companies named in the petition were Poshpreneurs Nig., allegedly owned by the children of former Head of Service Olowogboyega Oyebade; Dotfam Multiventures Ltd, linked to the siblings of a former APC State Chairman; The Ice Firms Nig. Ltd, reportedly owned by former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Adebayo Adeleke; and Afamoks Web International, which was allegedly linked to former Amotekun Field Commander, Amitolu Shittu. The state government claimed that these companies, lacking expertise in construction, executed substandard renovation works while still receiving full contract payments, leading to the misappropriation of the $20 million grant.

 

On the issue of money laundering, the petition alleged that over ₦1.5 billion was funnelled through the Osun chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) between January and October 2022. It named former ALGON Chairman, Abiodun Idowu, Secretary, Olubisi Oladosu, 28 former local government caretaker chairmen, and former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Yekeen Adebayo Adeleke, as key figures in the alleged scheme. The government further alleged that financial records showed a clear case of money laundering involving the past administration of Oyetola.

 

According to the petition, financial records indicated that large sums of money were repeatedly transferred from the ALGON account at Zenith Bank (Account Number: 1016607858) into the private account of Akeem Ibitoye, a local government employee and Director of Finance at Ejigbo Local Government. The government claimed that withdrawals ranging from ₦10 million to over ₦30 million per day were made in cash, with no evidence that the funds were used for any official government projects.

 

However, Adebayo Adeleke has dismissed the allegations, describing them as baseless.

 

He stated, “EFCC has not invited me, and I have not seen a copy of the petition for me to know what it is all about. If there is no proof, then the allegations are frivolous and of no stance.”

 

He further accused Governor Adeleke and the PDP of political persecution, saying, “I have become a thorn in the flesh of Governor Adeleke and the PDP, and I won’t be surprised if some baseless allegations are levied against me. Anyway, they think trying to dirty my white garment will make me keep mute about their fraudulent ways of governance.”