Nigerian real estate mogul Sijibomi Ogundele repays $30 million debt as corruption inquiry continues

Sijibomi Ogundele says his luxury property firm Sujimoto has repaid more than N40 billion ($29.8 million) to banks and private lenders and will be debt-free by 1 January 2027 a recovery claim made while an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission investigation into the company remains unresolved.

"Over the last 14 months, I have learnt the hard way that reckless borrowing can destroy even the most promising businesses," the founder and group managing director said, according to Nigerian outlets reporting his remarks.

Lagos's high-end residential market loaded up on leverage against buyers whose dollar purchasing power collapsed with the naira. Sujimoto is among the more visible developers to quantify the damage publicly. But the deleveraging claim arrives against an unresolved regulatory backdrop that his statements do not address and creditors are not his only counterparty.

Ogundele said the company sold no units for close to three years while carrying monthly overheads of about N126 million ($94,000) and operational commitments above N500 million ($373,000). He attributed the strain to falling purchasing power, inflation, rising construction costs and currency volatility, and urged entrepreneurs not to treat borrowing as a substitute for cash flow. None of these figures has been independently verified or audited.

In September 2025 the EFCC declared Ogundele wanted over alleged fund diversion and money laundering. He turned himself in, and the agency froze his personal accounts and those of Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, and seized his passport. A magistrate later granted a remand order allowing investigators to complete their inquiries.

The matter concerns 22 Smart Green Schools in Enugu State. The state released N5.7 billion reported at about $3.8 million at the time as half the contract sum; a petition to the EFCC put the value of work completed on site at about N750 million. On 21 January 2026 the commission handed N1.28 billion ($954,000) recovered from Ogundele to the Enugu government.

Ogundele denies wrongdoing. Before surrendering he argued publicly that the contract was undervalued and that inflation had eroded project costs. No charges appear to have been filed against him in court, and no findings have been made. Sujimoto was founded in 2013 with Saudi investor Yazeed Alrahji, with Ogundele returning to Nigeria in 2014.