Fresh facts have emerged as to why the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), is after the chief executive officer of Bi-Courtney Consortium, Dr Wale Babalakin.
Babalaki’s home in TY Danjuma Crescent, Asokoro, Abuja was stormed by operatives from the EFCC. It took the timely intervention of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke before the operatives backed off.
He is being hounded for alleged money laundering charges. According to sources at the commission, the new charge against Babalakin is related to his involvement with James Ibori, the former Governor of Delta State who is in jail in the UK for money laundering.
Babalakin is believed to have used one of his many companies to launder the N2 billion for the former governor which he used to purchase a Bombardier jet through one Elias Preko, a Ghanaian who is believed to have died recently.
Pointblanknews.com gathered that the government found out that Bi-Courtney was preparing for a legal war with the Federal Ministry of Works for the cancellation which Babalakin feels was arbitrary.
Babalakin who is a lawyer is believed to be preparing to drag the ministry to court to seek redress, prove the cancellation was faulty and illegal. He also wants to get an injunction restraining the ministry of works from going ahead to use Julius Berger and RCC for the project.
Although he argues that instead of the arbitrary cancelation, the legal thing the federal Government could have done was to take the issue to arbitration.
In 2009, the EFCC arrested and detained Babalakin for a while, and let him go. But Pointblanknews.com learnt that trouble started for Babalakin few days ago when the federal government cancelled the N89.53 billion Lagos-Ibadan expressway 25 year concession contract. Also on Tuesday, the Ondo State Government announced its readiness to cancel a N4.8 billion road contract in Akure awarded to another company, Homan Engineering Limited, believed to be owned by Babalakin. The State’s Commissioner for Works, Gboye Adegbenro, said three years after the contract was issued and adequate payment made, the company was yet to reach 30 per cent of construction.
Babalakin had a litany of problems executing the Lagos-Ibadan expressway contract. His firm had no background in road construction but building, he had to invite Borini Prono to handle some part of it, could not raise enough funds from banks due to the bank’s reluctance to fund Public/Private Partnership (PPP) projects, more deaths on the road, no performance bond submitted. He had invested over N3 Billion so far.