The subscribers accused Onalaja of fraudulent conversion of funds, repeated demands and collections of extra payments, abandonment of the project since 2020, and troubling failure of oversight, even after the matter was formally taken to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Subscribers for apartments at Flourish Apartments & Terraces, a residential estate on Orchid Road, Lekki, Lagos, have accused real estate developer Bamidele Onalaja, Executive Director of RevolutionPlus Construction & Infrastructure Company Ltd, of a deliberate move to dispossess them of homes they said were fully paid for but never delivered.
For more than four years, what was meant to be a symbol of hope, stability and return on hard-earned savings has instead become a years-long nightmare and a source of anguish for no fewer than 50 Nigerian families at home and in the diaspora.
Eight of the aggrieved subscribers lamented the situation to SaharaReporters. The subscribers are Dr Adedotun Adelosoye, Dr Uzochukwu Odika, Mrs Thelma Adepeju Egunjobi, Mr Isaac Tarikeidieye, Mr Ezihe Paul Nnaemeka, Prince Owunari Yellowe, Mr Robert Edukugho and Mr Rasheed Abolomope.
The subscribers accused Onalaja of fraudulent conversion of funds, repeated demands and collections of extra payments, abandonment of the project since 2020, and troubling failure of oversight, even after the matter was formally taken to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Speaking on behalf of the eight aggrieved, Adelosoye said the ordeal has left families financially drained, emotionally battered and fearful that justice may never come.
“We are Nigerian residents at home and abroad. This is a case of fraudulent conversion of our hard-earned money by Bamidele Onalaja and his company, RevolutionPlus,” Adelosoye revealed.
A Project That Promised Security
Adelosoye said their ordeal began in 2019 when RevolutionPlus advertised Flourish Apartments & Terraces as a premium residential development comprising 56 units on Orchid Road, one of Lekki’s fast-growing real estate corridors.
Trusting assurances that the project was legitimate and not a Ponzi scheme, many of the buyers, professionals, public servants and Nigerians living abroad committed their savings to the estate.
Between 2019 and 2021, Adelosoye said eight subscribers alone paid a total of ₦399.2 million to RevolutionPlus for eight housing units, including four-bedroom semi-detached duplexes, three-bedroom terraces and a two-bedroom apartment.
Delivery was promised for December 2021, based on a 12-month completion timeline.
“This amount was worth one million dollars then, as those of us in the diaspora individually committed over $120,000 each to get an average of N50,000,000 for this project,” Adelosoye said.
Delays, Diversions and More Demands
Despite completing their payments within 18 months as agreed, by the end of 2021, the homes were nowhere near completion.
The subscribers alleged that rather than focus on the Lekki project, RevolutionPlus diverted the funds into “questionable land speculations and allocation projects” across Nigeria, some of which allegedly affected the same investors.
“Bamidele Onalaja later deceived us, vide an appeal letter written at the end of 2022 where he urged us to assist him with extra payment, promising delivery within six months, citing ensuing inflation and high cost of building materials,” Adelosoye said.
Reluctantly, and fearing total loss, “We were forced to bring out additional money in 2022 and 2023, to enable him finish this project.
Since then, “he had always come back every six months to demand more money whilst Flourish Apartments and Terraces, which we have fully paid for, remained abandoned since 2022.”
Taking the Matter to EFCC
In August 2024, eight of the 50 subscribers of RevolutionPlus formally petitioned the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Office, with the case handled by the commission’s Tax Fraud Section in Ikoyi.
The investigation, however, was widely criticised, as it allegedly allowed Bamidele Onalaja to abscond with another ₦45 million in May 2025, representing the first half of a ₦90 million payment requested for project support.
EFCC officers held a series of meetings with the subscribers and confirmed that Onalaja had been summoned, questioned, and released on bail.
During the process, the investigating team reportedly identified issues in RevolutionPlus’ accounts but encouraged subscribers to fund the Lekki project, assuring them that the developer would be monitored and that the project would proceed as planned.
Despite suggestions from subscribers to deposit funds into a monitored escrow account, the EFCC team insisted on direct payment into an account provided by Onalaja, with promises that the site would be attended to once funds were released.
Following this, the subscribers transferred ₦45.2 million in late May 2025, marking the first tranche of the requested payment, though frustrations remained high due to the company’s prior record of payments and delays.
“We wanted accountability, hence our vehement refusal to make direct payment to his account, but the EFCC team brushed our concern aside, requesting confidence in their abilities to handle this issue successfully!” he said.
“Alas, once the new payment of over N45 million was made, Onalaja disappeared again.”
Disappearance and Alleged Escape
Since June 2025, the subscribers said Onalaja has failed to honour EFCC invitations and stopped responding altogether.
“We have been informed that several invitations extended to Onalaja since June 2025 by the EFCC have not been honoured,” Adelosoye said.
The subscribers alleged that Onalaja falsely claimed to be outside Nigeria, while evidence suggests he was in the country between July and September 2025.
Adelosoye said: “One of us abroad had to travel down to meet with the EFCC Lagos Zonal Director on July 8, 2025, to press home our demand.
“Despite his failure to return to the site in June as agreed, and after a meeting with the EFCC Lagos Zonal director on 8th July 2025, where the Zonal director ordered that he be summoned, we continued our payments to show our commitment.”
Fearing further loss, Adelosoye said the subscribers raised the remaining funds as bank drafts, which their lawyer deposited with the EFCC in July 2025.
Onalaja, he said, has refused to collect the drafts to date.
“This has shown he has no intention to deliver the project or honour the agreement reached with us and the EFCC,” Adelosoye said.
More troubling, Adelosoye said they have discovered that Onalaja has since relocated to the United States, where he allegedly set up a new operation in Dallas, Texas, raising fears of continued fraudulent activities targeting unsuspecting investors.
Human Cost of Broken Promise
Adelosoye lamented that beyond financial figures, the human toll is heavy.
“We believe in Nigeria and its institutions, hence we invested our hard-earned money into this project, but this project is now clearly being utilized as a tool of deceit, fraud and criminality by Bamidele Onalaja,” he said.
He lamented that some of the subscribers are repaying loans with accumulating interest, while others invested their retirement savings or their last life savings.
He added that some of the subscribers who are public servants accessed the National Housing Fund and mortgage loans in hopes of securing permanent homes.
Meanwhile, similar estates on Orchid Road, launched around the same period, were completed by 2022, with buyers already living in their homes and spared years of rent.
“We can no longer watch our investments lie in ruins,” Adelosoye said.
“These properties are already deteriorating due to lack of attention, despite complete payment of the contract sum, secured our allocation letters and even made additional payments under the watchful eyes of EFCC staff who, allegedly, allowed Bamidele Onalaja to escape with our money.
A Call for Justice
The subscribers called on Nigerian authorities to declare Onalaja wanted, secure his arrest, and ensure he faces prosecution.
They warn that cases like this threaten investor confidence, diaspora remittances and faith in Nigeria’s institutions.
“We are sincere, hard-working people who just want to have a decent living place,” Adelosoye said.
“This brazen RevolutionPlus attitude to investors could lead to loss of investors’ confidence in our country, loss of much-needed diasporan remittances and breakdown of law and order should we resort to self-help.
“Bamidele Onalaja is walking about free after inflicting intense pain on our families and households. We believe that justice and fairness will not yield to fraud and illegality.”
When SaharaReporters contacted Onalaja, he asserted that significant work was underway at the project site, denied evading EFCC summons, and accused the subscribers of abandoning what he described as a valid agreement while refusing to pay for the properties.
Onalaja did not deny the 12-month completion timeline of the project, nor did he deny failure to deliver completed properties to the subscribers after over four years.
He said, “My only response to you is try and visit the site and see the massive project ongoing, then thereafter, form your opinion.
“I have no issue with the EFCC at all. These subscribers abandoned a valid agreement which the commission supervised, and we all signed. They refused to pay, and the commission is aware of their antics.
“But we are focused on rounding off the project. A project can be delayed due to several issues, such as inflation and so on, but it can never be denied. Visit the site, please.”
He was confronted with findings indicating that the project had not been completed, as well as documentary evidence from subscribers detailing all payments made, including ₦32,204,081 paid by each subscriber as a variation fee following his demand in a letter dated December 18, 2024.
The letter was signed by RevolutionPlus’ Head of Customer Service, Maria Kalu, and Chief Operating Officer, Nike Idowu.
When asked to explain why the project remained uncompleted despite these payments, Onalaja reportedly became hostile, hurled abuses at SaharaReporters’ reporter who contacted him, and issued threats, claiming he would use the authorities against them.
“Tell whoever that sent you that I can never be intimidated on a project I have spent almost N4 billion building. I will finish the project with or without them! Then we will see how all this bullying will turn out in their favour!” he said.
“Nobody can bully me, not when I’m on the right track! You want to blackmail me into giving you money? You lazy, hungry, nonsense, poor so-called journalist!”
“This is not investigative journalism but bullying, and I will take you up with the authority. They will find you wherever you are! Hungry, lazy, nonsense person!” he concluded.
(C) SaharaReporters
