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| Adeyeye Ogunwusi |
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 Interproject
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.
Continue reading after the cut.....
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.
“To our client’s surprise, the search
revealed that Mr. Ogunwusi/Metropole had forged the title documents by
superimposing the name of Metropole Interproject Limited as a co-owner
of the parcel of land. The signature of Professor Olawoyin, SAN, who
prepared the title document was also forged by Mr. Ogunwusi/Metropole.
“Mr. Ogunwusi also submitted a forged
Certificate of Incorporation with the name: Metropole Interproject &
Sijuwade Holdings Limited. He also forged some documents belonging to
the Lagos State Government and uttered same to the Lagos State Physical
Planning and Development Authority.”
The petition further stated, “Meanwhile,
before our client got to know about the fraudulent activities of Mr.
Ogunwusi/Metropole, our client had, in line with the agreement it had
with Mr. Ogunwusi/Metropole, issued title in favour of Metropole and its
nominees for the units due to the company.
“Apart from the forgery earlier
complained about, Mr. Ogunwusi/Metropole has also sold the eight duplex
units that ought to have accrued to our client and he converted the
proceeds, running into N400m, to his personal use.”
The petitioner, therefore, asked the
EFCC to investigate the circumstances under which the title documents
were allegedly forged.
Culled - Punch
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