Ex-Lagos Deputy Governor Ojikutu Says N130m Land Fraud Claim Was Politically Motivated

Former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Alhaja Sinatu Ojikutu, has described the N130m land fraud allegation against her as politically motivated, saying the controversy arose from a land agent’s error rather than a deliberate attempt to defraud anyone. Speaking during the 2026 PR Forum/CSR Exhibition & Award, she said she had never embezzled public funds in her career and maintained the scandal was aimed at damaging her political reputation, following a petition sent to police in June 2014 alleging she and her son, Sampson, were involved in a N130m land scam in Lekki.

Ojikutu said the dispute stemmed from a surveyor mistakenly identifying a vacant plot as her late husband’s property, while his actual land, already developed, lay on an adjoining plot. She said her lawyer had confirmed the vacant plot was free of encumbrance before she sold it, but the issue surfaced after the buyer began developing it and another claimant emerged. She said she refunded the buyer in full — clarifying the actual amount was N120m, not the reported N130m — but said the buyer was later coerced into reporting the transaction as fraudulent as an election approached while she was actively campaigning.

She said her son was drawn into the matter only because he assisted in managing her late husband’s estate, and denied fleeing Nigeria when she travelled to the US, saying she had informed police of her pre-scheduled trip for medical reasons before being declared wanted, and that efforts were made to seek her extradition via the US Embassy. She said she has since gone to court to reclaim her late husband’s property and reiterated she had never stolen from any institution she worked for, attributing the scandal to her opposition to corrupt practices.