The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has officially acknowledged the apprehension of Olu Agunloye, former Minister of State for Power, several days after he was declared wanted.
According to a source within the anti-graft agency, Olu Agunloye has been in detention since December 13, 2023, as disclosed to newsmen on Tuesday.
“He has been with the EFCC since December 13th,” the source said. “But it was not made public.”
The EFCC had about a week ago declared Agulonye wanted over an alleged $6 billion fraud related to the controversial Mambilla hydropower project.
“The public is hereby notified that Olu Agunloye, whose photograph appears above, is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in an alleged case of corruption and forgery,” the agency wrote on its social media platforms.
It urged anyone “with useful information as to his whereabouts” to contact the agency. The EFCC had in September questioned the former minister over the same issue.
Agunloye served as a minister during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration from 1999 to 2003. He has been embroiled in a controversy surrounding the Mambilla project.
President Obasanjo accused him of improperly awarding the project contract without obtaining approval from the Federal Executive Council (FEC). In response, Agunloye refuted the allegations, asserting that the former president was distorting facts.
‘Humane Considerations’
The recent challenges faced by Agunloye have sparked responses from Nigerians, with Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka being the latest to weigh in on the issue.
In a Monday statement, he captioned “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?’’