EFCC Arraigns Native Doctor, Wife Over Alleged N1.09billion Contract Scam, Court Orders Remand
EFCC Arraigns Native Doctor, Wife Over Alleged N1.09billion Contract Scam, Court Orders Remand
The defendants were brought before Justice Abubakar Usman of the Federal High Court on a six-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and retention of proceeds of crime, contrary to Section 17(a) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004.
The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has arraigned a self-styled native doctor, Olorunbukunmi Taiwo, and his wife, Awolegan Omolola Omotola, before the Federal High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti over an alleged contract scam involving the sum of N1,098,961,500.
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The defendants were brought before Justice Abubakar Usman of the Federal High Court on a six-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and retention of proceeds of crime, contrary to Section 17(a) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004.
According to the EFCC, the duo ran into trouble after a widow, identified as Anazia Colina Kenechukwu, a proprietor of a private school in Delta State, petitioned the Commission, alleging that the first defendant, Taiwo, approached her with claims that he had been awarded a road construction contract by the Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission, Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC), and that she was to finance the execution of the said project.
Kenechukwu further stated that she transferred a total sum of N1,980,000,000 into Taiwo’s account domiciled with Access Bank Plc, following the purported contract arrangement.
However, EFCC investigations revealed that the funds were diverted and laundered by the couple, who subsequently invested proceeds of the alleged fraud in the acquisition of two high-value properties in Ado-Ekiti.
The properties, according to the Commission, include the Town Tavern Lounge, located at No. 1, Ikere Road, off Florence Court School, Ado-Ekiti, and a four-bedroom bungalow situated at Florence Court, Irewolede Estate, Ado-Ekiti.
The anti-graft agency further disclosed that it had, on Monday, May 25, 2026, secured an interim order for the attachment of the said properties pending further investigation and prosecution.
One of the counts in the charge, Count 2, reads in full:”That you, Olorunbukunmi Taiwo and Awolegan Omolola Omotola, sometime between January 2024 and November 2025, in Ilorin within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N1,098,961,500.00 (One Billion, Ninety-Eight Million, Nine Hundred and Sixty-One Thousand, Five Hundred Naira) from one Anazia Colina Kenechukwu, which was paid to you through Olorunbukunmi Taiwo’s account number 0027303340 domiciled with Access Bank Plc, by falsely representing that same would be used to execute a road construction contract awarded to you by the Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC), a pretence you knew to be false, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
When the charge was read in open court, both defendants pleaded not guilty to all the counts preferred against them.
Following their pleas, counsel to the EFCC, Sesan Ola, urged the court to fix a date for trial and further sought an order for the remand of the defendants pending the determination of the case.
Justice Abubakar Usman thereafter adjourned the matter till Thursday, June 11, 2026, for hearing of the bail application and commencement of trial.
The court also ordered that the defendants be remanded in EFCC custody pending further proceedings.
