The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has officially confirmed the detention of the former Minister of State for Power, Olu Agunloye, who was declared wanted just days ago.
Agunloye has been in custody since December 13, 2023, in connection with alleged fraudulent activities amounting to $6 billion related to the controversial Mambilla hydropower project.
The EFCC declared Agunloye wanted approximately a week ago, urging individuals with relevant information about his whereabouts to come forward.
Former Minister Declared Wanted by EFCC Over Alleged Fraud
The ongoing investigation by the anti-graft agency had previously led to the questioning of the former minister in September, concerning the same issue.
Olu Agunloye, who served as a minister during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration from 1999 to 2003, has long been embroiled in the controversy surrounding the Mambilla project. Former President Obasanjo had accused Agunloye of unlawfully awarding the project’s contract without obtaining approval from the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
In response, Agunloye denied the allegations, asserting that Obasanjo was distorting facts.
The latest development in Agunloye’s legal ordeal has raised reactions from the Nigerian public. Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka has become the latest prominent figure to comment on the matter, adding to the growing discourse around the former minister’s alleged involvement in the high-stakes corruption case.
In a statement released on Monday, he titled it “In pursuit of justice, productivity, under the rule of law,” Soyinka questioned the agency’s action.
“The immediate provocation for these reflections is the ongoing predicament of a former Minister of Power, Dr. Olu Agunloye, currently detained by the EFCC, in total contempt of sense and justice, or indeed, basic humane considerations. We shall not go into the merit or demerits of the charges raised against him over a 16-year-old project that bears the name Mambilla. –that is the business of the law courts,” Soyinka wrote.
“Our concern at this moment is however only partially on the basis of individual fundamental human rights. Most fortuitously, the detention of any former public servant under circumstances such as Agunloye also provokes the question: how is public interest – such as the pursuit of justice – served by such an arbitrary exercise of power?’’