Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Sujimoto Construction Limited, Mr. Sijibomi Ogundele, has refuted reports that he had a fight with Hon. Olumide Osoba.
In a statement released in Lagos by his media team, Ogundele noted that he did not have any disagreement with Osoba which could have resulted in a fistfight, adding “I Sijibomi did not attack or had a fistfight with Hon. Olumide Osoba. Chief Segun Osoba and his family have accepted and treated me like a son. For more than 10 years, Chief Osoba has been a father, supporter, an adviser, and inspiration, to me and my business.”
The real estate magnate said it was normal for friends to disagree on issues, pointing out that he was at a loss how a friendly exchange could be interpreted to mean disagreement even up to the point of imputing fiscuffs for non-violent people like the two actors
“Olumide and I have been friends and brothers for over a decade, and he is a very honourable man with strong integrity. We have both been there for each other, morally and financially. As humans, it is normal to have disagreements, but not to the extent of publicly trading blows. Honourable Osoba and I had not been in direct contact for almost three years and when I saw him at a function, I approached him in the spirit of the season.
“To reiterate, I never had a fight with Hon. Osoba. I never laid a hand on him nor have I ever portrayed myself like Anthony Joshua… His younger brother and my friend Tobi Osoba were witnesses to the events. Additionally, close friends such as; – Akin Onitiri, Maurice Khawan, Victor Ovia, Tive Ibru, and Doyin Alatise were present. The CCTV footage at the space can corroborate against this false and unsubstantiated media reports which I find very distasteful,” he explained.
He therefore counselled newsmen to crosscheck their facts and resist the urge to report based on sentiments and hearsay which could jeopardise hard-earned reputations as had done to him and further dismissed the report as targeting him and his company as “easy prey or a hapless victim of cyberbullying.”
According to him, “we received calls and messages from clients and I have had to explain and assure them that the inspiration towards entrepreneurship and leadership supersedes any art of public misdemeanor. It is important to put on record that the purported news report by different blogs and news agencies are ‘false, malicious and seemed to have been financed by our detractors, with the intention of bringing my reputation to disrepute”.
