Laide Bakare's Hubby Reacts To EFCC 'Wanted Notice'

Husband of popular Nigerian actress, Laide Bakare, Tunde Oriowo, has reacted to a ‘wanted notice’ placed on him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, some days ago. The actress has also solidly stayed behind her husband, claiming that some elements are out to smear his image because of his philanthropic gestures.
Narrating the genesis of the matter to Niyi Abati, Oriowo, the CEO of Primavera Construction & Engineering Ltd, said he could not understand the motive and the interest of EFCC in the matter because the anti-graft agency declared him wanted before a court judgement on a matter he took to the court. He added that no court of law has indicted him for any offence and that no warrant of arrest has ever been issued on him.

The businessman accused the EFCC and MTN, a telecoms giant in Nigeria, of trying to blackmail him.

Oriowo narrated that, “there was this MTN Cooperative whose membership is of MTN workers. Their union came together with this idea of a project called ‘Y’ello Estate’ to be built at Okun Ajah. That is my home town and where I do most of my businesses. So, based on my popularity and as a philanthropist who commands respect in the area, my company, Primavera Engineering & Construction Limited, was approached by MTN to help buy five hectares of land, which we did. Later, they came to us again and said oh, there are more demands, get us five hectares more. We did. The subscribers now became much interested in the project because they were going to make it the best of such Estates in Lagos.

“We had an agreement from the beginning because they trusted us to deliver. The agreement was for me to; one, buy the lands; two, to ensure that the lands acquired were validly documented, and three, to be the sole developer of the Estate.

“But some powerful people at MTN then came in after the agreement with the aim to hijack it. They saw the project as a laudable one and they were shocked that I was the only man handling the project. They came with an excuse that many people were bidding for it and it should not be a one-man thing. But I have spent close to one billion naira on this project. The agreement was for me to collect from MTN 20 percent of the money for mobilization and then go ahead to complete it with my personal money. And I have spent a lot on it. You know how big a project like an Estate can be; talk of roads, bridges and other amenities.

“So, since the MTN had decided to bring in another developer and my company has committed so much into executing the project, I asked that the money I have spent so far be refunded. But when they were not forthcoming, I took the MTN Cooperative to court seeking to retrieve my money. We got judgment from Hon. Justice Olateru-Olagbegi. We then had negotiations with MTN based on the court judgment. Under the terms of settlement, MTN was to pay us substantial sums of money.

“But MTN still refused to pay us, so we commenced third-party involvement proceedings against MTN which resulted in the issuance of an order freezing the bank accounts of MTN. While we await action on our money, MTN went to EFCC to lodge criminal complaints against us, alleging theft of money without disclosing the court proceedings on the issue. This was after the EFCC, on its own, had gone to court to institute criminal proceedings against us based on MTN’s complaints, which is still pending before the court.”