The Osun State Government under the administration of Ademola Adeleke has formally petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to investigate the immediate past governor and current Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, over the alleged misappropriation of a $20m World Bank health grant.
The government also accused Oyetola of money laundering, financial misconduct and violations of the Public Procurement Act in the disbursement of the grant meant for health sector improvements in the state.
According to an acknowledged copy of the petition dated March 7, 2025, Oyetola, during his tenure as governor, chaired a special Health Intervention Committee tasked with allocating and applying the grant funds.
The committee, whose members included former government officials such as Remi Omowaye, Rafiu Isamatu, and Bola Oyebamiji, decided to use the entire $20m for renovating 320 primary health care centres across the state.
According to the petition written by the government’s lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, “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.
The government noted that the beneficiaries of the contract allegedly included businesses with no construction experience, such as food vendors, salon operators, supermarket owners, and web designers.
Some of the named companies in the petition are Poshpreneurs Nig., owned by the children of the former Head of Service, Olowogboyega Oyebade; Dotfam Multiventures Ltd, linked to the siblings of the former APC State Chairman; The Ice Firms Nig. Ltd, allegedly owned by Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Adebayo Adeleke; and Afamoks Web International, linked to former Amotekun Field Commander, Amitolu Shittu.
The state government alleges that the companies, lacking the expertise for construction, executed substandard renovation works while receiving full contract payments, thereby leading to the misappropriation of the $20n grant.
On the allegations of money laundering, the state government alleged that over ₦1.5 bn, was cornered through the Osun chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria between January and October 2022.
The petition named former ALGON Chairman, Abiodun Idowu, Secretary, Olubisi Oladosu, former local government caretaker chairmen and the former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Adebayo Adeleke, as key actors in the alleged scheme.
Financial records cited in the petition indicate that funds were repeatedly transferred from the ALGON account at Zenith Bank (Account Number: 1016607858) into the private account of one Akeem Ibitoye, a local government employee and Director of Finance at Ejigbo Local Government.
The state government alleged that withdrawals ranging from N30m to over N10m per day were made in cash, with no records of the funds being used for any official projects.