The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared a former minister of power and steel Olu Agunloye wanted over alleged fraud.
In a notification on Facebook on Tuesday, the EFCC urged anyone who knows the whereabouts of Mr Agunloye to report to the nearest police station or inform the EFCC.
The EFCC stated: “Dr. U Agunloye is wanted by the EFCC. You know his whereabout? Please don’t hesitate to inform the EFCC or the nearest Police Station.”
The EFCC had invited Agunloye for questioning over his role in the $6 billion Mambila hydropower contract.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had accused Agunloye of mismanaging the power project during his tenure from 1999 to 2003 and failed to brief him on the state of the project.
In an interview, Obasanjo claimed that Agunloye fraudulently awarded the contract for the power project without the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
Obasanjo challenged Agunloye to tell Nigerians where he derived the authority to award a $6 billion contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd in respect of the project in 2003.
In his response, Agunloye said the nature of the initial contract for the Mambilla Power Project was awarded as a build-operate-and-transfer contract in May 2003 under his watch.
He said the government was not obliged to pay a kobo to Sunrise under the build, operate and transfer (BOT) agreement as it was to be fully funded by the newly registered company, whose declared assets were worth less than $2,000 at the time.
