This is not good…The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has begun investigation into allegations of forgery, fraudulent conversion and obtaining the sum of N400m by false pretence against Mr. Adeyeye Ogunwusi and his firm, Metropole Inter-project Limited.
Ogunwusi is one of the contestants for the vacant stool of the Ooni of Ile-Ife, Osun State.
In a petition written by the chambers of Rotimi Jacobs & Co. dated September 7, 2015, Messrs Sijuwade Holdings Limited stated that in 1993, it purchased a parcel of land measuring 30,000 square metres from the Ojomu Chieftaincy Family at the Lekki peninsula, Lagos, and duly obtained the Governor’s Consent to the transaction.
Thereafter, SHL claimed it entered into an agreement with Metropole Interproject Limited for the latter to sand-fill the entire parcel of land, and that upon completion of the sand filling, Metropole would be given 7,500 square metres from the land “to serve as the company’s fees.”
The petition stated that after the completion of the sand-filling, Metropole offered to develop the remaining portion of land for SHL, adding that the offer was accepted on the condition that the development would be in phases.
The responsibilities of Metropole as stated in the Development Mandate Agreement included the funding of the development and procurement of all necessary permits from the federal and Lagos State governments; as well as the funding/construction of 24 duplex units on the 7,500 square metres and this was to form the basis of Metropole’s equity in the project entitling the developer to 16 units out of the 24.
The petition stated, “Our client (Sijuwade Holdings) gave Mr. Ogunwusi the title document (which was in our client’s name), including the tax clearance of two directors to process the necessary permits required for the construction. After the completion of phase 1, our client requested copies of the approvals and consent, but Mr. Ogunwusi refused to provide them.
“Our client engaged the services of a town planner (TG Marchnata) to conduct a search at the offices of the Lagos State Physical Planning and Development Authority. The town planner got copies of all the documents submitted by Mr. Ogunwusi/Metropole for the purposes of procuring the building permits for the construction.
