Pastor Adeboye’s son allegedly abandons Kaduna Project after collecting ₦8 billion

Adeolu Adeboye, the son of the General Overseer of RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, is under the watchful eyes of the authority after allegedly receiving over ₦8 billion from the Kaduna State Government for a road construction project.

The news source Sahara Reporters says that Adeolu and his wife got the deal through Ronchess Global Resources Plc when Nasir El-Rufai was governor. They are now being looked at closely because they are said to have stolen the money and not finished the job.

The Kaduna State Government and the House of Assembly are looking into the claimed scam.

To fight back, Adeolu went to the Federal High Court in Lagos and filed a case (FHC/L/CS/1206/24) asking the court to stop the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Kaduna State Government, and the House of Assembly from arresting or holding him.

Respondents are the EFCC, the Inspector General of Police, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, the Commissioner of Police, the City of Lagos, the Government of Kaduna State, and the House of Assembly of Kaduna State.

A team from the Kaduna State House of Assembly, on May 16, 2024, inspected the project site on the Wusasa to Danmagaji Nagoyi Road in Kaduna North Local Government Area.

They found that Ronchess Global Resources Plc had left the site empty. Even though they were paid ₦8,195,014,236.95 for the job, they only finished 30% of it before they stopped.

The deal was worth ₦8.74 billion at first, but it was later raised to ₦17.26 billion. The job was given out on September 15, 2020, and was due to be done on January 2, 2021.

In order to avoid being investigated, Adeolu Adeboye asked for a temporary order that would stop the EFCC, the Kaduna State Government, and other groups from doing anything else against him.

The Federal High Court’s Justice K.O. Ogundare gave the temporary order, which means the defendants can’t do anything connected to the project until the court hears and rules on the move for an interlocutory injunction.

In a counter-affidavit signed by Mohammed Arabo on August 14, 2024, the EFCC said that theft and illegal taking of public funds had been found against Adeolu and 26 other contractors.

The EFCC’s investigation showed that Ronchess Global Resources Plc had gotten ₦8,185,014,328.95 even though the job was only 30% done.

The EFCC’s legal team, led by Femi Falana (SAN), is questioning Adeolu’s use of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules. They say that the claim isn’t really about enforcing fundamental rights, but about other problems.

Falana argued that the question to be “resolved is whether the applicant’s claim falls within the type that is enforceable as an infraction of fundamental right.”

The EFCC’s counsel argued further: “The position of the law is that for a claim to qualify as falling under fundamental rights, it must be clear that the principal relief sought is for the enforcement or for securing the enforcement of a fundamental right and not, from the nature of the claim, to redress a grievance that is ancillary to the principal relief which itself is not ipso facto a claim for the enforcement of fundamental right.”

Falana noted that “significantly, the claim of any breach is not like a magic wand which can be waved in the face of every claim and turn on the engine of enforcement of a right that may not be constitutional.”

The case has been adjourned to September 20, 2024, for further proceedings.