Fela Durotoye, former presidential candidate and leadership coach, recently shared how he rejected a N5bn fraudulent government deal despite pressure from a government official.
Speaking at the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria’s biannual conference in Abuja on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, Durotoye recalled how a government official approached him with an enticing training contract.
The official, who claimed to be a pastor, told him he had been selected to train people in all 774 local government areas of Nigeria.
The deal gets suspicious:
Durotoye said he and his team prepared an invoice, calculating a fair price of N1.3bn for the training. But just three days later, he got a call from the presidency congratulating him on securing the job.
“They said my asking price was too small. They promised to add N700m, making it N2bn, then asked me to submit an invoice for N5bn,” he explained.
His reaction:
Durotoye, who focuses on ethical leadership, questioned the ethics of inflating the price, especially for a program meant to teach leadership. But the official dismissed his concerns, assuring him that he wasn’t “ripping off Nigeria.”
“He said he had served the country and deserved compensation. When I reminded him that God’s blessings make one rich without sorrow, he fired back, saying, ‘There is no sorrow in this one. You’ve been doing well for Nigeria. It’s time for Nigeria to do well for you,’” Durotoye recalled.
Turning down the deal:
During the conversation, Durotoye decided to turn off his phone, refusing to be part of a scheme that involved inflating the cost. Three months later, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested several presidency officials for stealing N426m from an ethical leadership training fund.
