Close People Arrested by KPK, Will It Continue to Bobby Nasution?

One of the suspects arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission is a close associate of North Sumatra Governor Bobby Nasution, namely the Head of the Public Works and Spatial Planning Office of North Sumatra, Topan Obaja Putra Ginting. This arrest is noted as the first involving a close associate of Bobby since he served as the Mayor of Medan until becoming the Governor of North Sumatra.

"We can see that during his tenure as the Mayor of Medan, Bobby and his close associates have been almost untouchable, even in cases that are already very clear. This time, the person closest to Bobby has been arrested," said Elfanda Ananda, former Chairman of the Indonesia Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) North Sumatra, on Sunday (29/6/2025).

Previously, on Thursday (26/6/2025) evening, the KPK conducted a sting operation in the Mandailing Natal Regency, North Sumatra. From this operation, five individuals have been designated as suspects in connection with the alleged corruption case involving the procurement of a road infrastructure project.

The Acting Deputy for Enforcement and Execution of the KPK, Asep Guntur Rahayu, stated during a press conference at the KPK Red and White Building in Jakarta on Saturday (28/6/2025) that there were two activities involving the alleged corruption crime of hand-catching that took place in the North Sumatra region.

First, regarding the road construction project within the North Sumatra Public Works and Spatial Planning Office (PUPR). Second, related to the preservation or maintenance of roads in the National Road Implementation Work Unit (Satker PJN) Region I North Sumatra.

Five individuals who have been designated as suspects are Topan (TOP), Rasuli Efendi Siregar (RES) serving as the Head of the UPTD Gunung Tua of the North Sumatra Public Works and Spatial Planning Office, concurrently acting as the Commitment Making Official (PPK), Heliyanto (HEL) as the PPK of the PJN Working Unit for Region I of North Sumatra, M Akhirun Efendi Siregar (KIR) as the President Director of PT DNG, and M Rayhan Dulasmi Pilang (RAY) as the Director of PT RN.

Topan was arrested in connection with the Sipiongot-South Labuhanbatu border road construction project with a project value of Rp 96 billion and the Hutaimbaru-Sipiongot road construction project with a project value of Rp 61.8 billion. In Kompas' records, Bobby and Topan reviewed the road in April 2025.

Topan instructed RES to appoint KIR as a partner/provider, bypassing the mechanisms and regulations in the procurement of goods and services for the Sipiongot-Labusel border road construction project and the Hutaimbaru-Sipiongot road construction project. The total value of the road construction and maintenance projects in this case is Rp 231.8 billion.

Asep said, a total of Rp 2 billion in project commissions had been distributed in the corruption case. The KPK will trace the flow of money (Kompas.id 6/29/2025).

"So there is nothing in this matter that we will exclude. If indeed the money flows to other heads of departments or to the governor, we will request information and will summon them," said Asep.

According to Elfanda, the Corruption Eradication Committee must show that they are still an institution that is free from intervention and is serious about enforcing the law.

Elfanda stated that Topan is a close associate and trusted person of Bobby in the government. When Bobby served as the Mayor of Medan, Topan was appointed as the Head of the Water Resources, Highways, and Construction Department. Topan was then designated as the Acting Regional Secretary of the Medan City Government during the North Sumatra Gubernatorial Election.

Upon his inauguration as the Governor of North Sumatra, Bobby brought Topan to the North Sumatra Provincial Government and immediately appointed him as the Head of the Public Works and Spatial Planning Office. Topan is also mentioned as one of the candidates for the Regional Secretary of the North Sumatra Provincial Government supported by Bobby.

Elfanda stated that the KPK must target the main perpetrators of the corruption case. According to him, the KPK should summon and interrogate Bobby as Bobby's direct superior. "The KPK can no longer use the term 'maybe,' but must call Bobby," said Elfanda.

Elfanda stated that Topan was once involved in a case regarding a failed project for the construction of 1,700 streetlights on several roads in the city of Medan. The project, valued at Rp 25.7 billion, was then referred to as the "ghost lamp" project due to many lights being non-functional and built in inappropriate locations. Topan emerged unscathed from that case.

"The Audit Board of Indonesia (BPK) was used to clean up the shroud lamp case by calling it a total loss. The Prosecutor's Office was actually the institution tasked with collecting state losses from the contractor. This shows Bobby's very strong power," said Elfanda.

Elfanda stated that there are still many cases in the Medan City Government that have the potential to be problematic, such as the construction project of Lapangan Merdeka Medan, the development of Jalan Imam Bonjol, drainage construction, the development of the Islamic Center Medan, and others.

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Works Dody Hanggodo stated that his office will soon conduct a comprehensive evaluation of all its ranks following the hand-catching operation by the KPK. One of the five suspects is an employee of the Ministry of Public Works, namely Helyanto.

Dody ensured that the internal evaluation from the level of echelon I to echelon III officials, as well as the Commitment Making Officials (PPK), will commence after receiving approval from President Prabowo Subianto.