By Abiola Olawale
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has formally petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate his predecessor, the Minister of Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, over allegations of misappropriating $20 million and N1.5 billion, respectively,(approximately N30bn going by current exchange rates) during his tenure.
The petition, filed on March 7, 2025, accuses Oyetola of financial misconduct involving a World Bank health grant and state funds meant for development projects.
According to the petition written by Osun state government’s lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, Adeleke’s administration said it uncovered evidence of mismanagement, including violations of Public Procurement Act and suspected money laundering.
According to Adeleke, the alleged $20 million was part of a World Bank grant intended to bolster the state’s healthcare sector, while the N1.5 billion reportedly passed through questionable channels linked to local government associations between January and October 2022.
Part of the petition reads: “This so-called renovation of primary health care centres involved building, renovation and adjustments/restructuring of some of these centres to attain the position of modern health centres. Having made these decisions, the Oyetola-led committee decided to award the contracts for the renovation.
“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 noted that the beneficiaries of the contract allegedly included businesses with no construction experience, such as food vendors, salon operators, supermarket owners, and web designers.
Among the companies named in the petition are Poshpreneurs Nig., owned by the children of the former Head of Service, Olowogboyega Oyebade; Dotfam Multiventures Ltd, linked to the siblings of the former APC State Chairman; The Ice Firms Nig. Ltd, allegedly owned by Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Adebayo Adeleke, and Afamoks Web International, linked to former Amotekun Field Commander Amitolu Shittu.
The Osun state government further alleged that the companies, lacking the expertise for construction, executed substandard renovation works while receiving full contract payments, thereby leading to the misappropriation of the $20n grant.
On the allegations of money laundering, the state government alleged that over ₦1.5 bn, was funneled through the Osun chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria between January and October 2022.
The petition named former ALGON Chairman Abiodun Idowu; Secretary Olubisi Oladosu; 28 former local government caretaker chairmen; and the former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Yekeen Adebayo Adeleke as key actors in the alleged scheme.
“In a similar vein, the government equally laid its hands on some financial records which clearly show a case of money laundering of huge magnitude by the past administration of Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola.
Financial records cited in the petition indicate that funds “were repeatedly transferred from the ALGON account at Zenith Bank (Account Number: 1016607858) into the private account of one Akeem Ibitoye, a local government employee and Director of Finance at Ejigbo Local Government.”
The Osun state government alleged that withdrawals ranging from N30m to over N10m per day were made in cash, with no records of the funds being used for any official projects.
