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Adeleke Fights Oyetola Dirty, Petitions EFCC Over Contract Awards To Hair Dressers, Cronies
By Benjamin Abioye
The Osun State Government has submitted a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), requesting an investigation into former governor and current Minister of Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola.
The petition accuses him of mismanaging a $20 million World Bank grant meant for healthcare development.
According to the petition, dated March 7, 2025, Oyetola led a special Health Intervention Committee that oversaw the allocation of the grant. The committee, which included former officials such as Remi Omowaye, Dr. Rafiu Isamatu, and Bola Oyebamiji, allocated the entire sum for the renovation of 320 primary healthcare centers in the state.
The petition, filed by the government’s legal representative, claimed, “This so-called renovation of primary health care centres involved building, renovation, and adjustments/restructuring of some of these centres in order to attain the position of modern health centres. Having made these decisions, the Oyetola-led committee decided to award the contracts for the renovation.”
It further alleged that Oyetola disregarded the Public Procurement Act of 2007 by failing to follow due process. Instead of conducting a competitive bidding process, the contracts were reportedly awarded to individuals with close ties to his administration.
“Rather, the former governor in observing the provisions of the Act in breach, awarded the contracts to individuals who were either his cabinet members, head of one agency of government or the other, his proxies and cronies who claimed to have incorporated business names/inactive companies,” the petition stated.
The state government also claimed that many of the contracts were given to businesses unrelated to construction, such as food vendors, salon operators, supermarket owners, and web designers. Companies mentioned in the petition included Poshpreneurs Nig., allegedly owned by the children of a former Head of Service, Dotfam Multiventures Ltd, linked to the siblings of a former party chairman, and The Ice Firms Nig. Ltd, reportedly owned by a former commissioner.
Additionally, the government accused Oyetola’s administration of money laundering, alleging that over ₦1.5 billion was funneled through the state’s Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) between January and October 2022. Financial records cited in the petition claimed that funds from an ALGON bank account were frequently transferred into the private account of a local government employee, Akeem Ibitoye, with large cash withdrawals made without clear documentation of their purpose.
Despite these allegations, a former commissioner named in the petition denied any wrongdoing. “EFCC has not invited me, and I have not seen a copy of the petition for me to know what it is all about. If there is no proof, then the allegations are frivolous and of no stance,” he said.
He also described the accusations as politically motivated, stating, “I have become a thorn in the flesh of Gov Adeleke and PDP, and I won’t be surprised if some baseless allegations are levied against me.”
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