Former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, as well as the former Minister of Power, Works, and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, are in Paris, France to testify in the ongoing arbitration case involving the $6 billion Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, THISDAY has learnt.
This is just as President Bola Tinubu declared on Saturday that those defending Nigeria in the said case are doing so based on conviction and patriotism, adding that he has no intention of involving any Nigerian.
However, due to the confidentiality of arbitration proceedings, THISDAY will not report the story in details.
Nigeria is accused of breaching the terms of the power project contract awarded to Sunrise Power and Transmission Limited by former President Obasanjo in 2003.
Obasanjo’s administration had on or about May 22, 2003, awarded the contract for constructing a 3,960MW Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited.
The former president had accused the Minister of Power and Steel, under his administration, Dr. Olu Agunloye, of fraudulently awarding the contract for the project without the approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
However, Agunloye rejected the former president’s accounts on the project, alleging that the Nigerian government was using him as a scapegoat to escape sanction for abandoning contractual agreements on the project.
Agunloye insisted that the contract for the project was duly awarded in 2003 by the Obasanjo’s administration on a Build, Operate, and Transfer basis.
But Buhari’s administration was said to have communicated the decision to cancel the agreement to the promoter of Sunrise Power, Mr. Leno Adesanya, and Mambilla Power in April 2020.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had also sought to arrest Adesanya and charge him with bribery and economic sabotage but he denied the allegations and proceeded to arbitration.
Adesanya also defended himself against EFCC’s decision to declare him wanted after Sunrise Power and Transmission Limited was accused of offering bribes to Agunloye to win the contract.
The Federal High Court in Abuja presided over Justice Inyang Ekwo had stopped the EFCC from prosecuting Adesanya.
Justice Ekwo, in a judgment, also gave an order of mandatory injunction compelling the EFCC to remove Adesanya’s name and photograph from its wanted list.
However, an Appeal Court sitting in Abuja had stayed the execution of the judgment.
Agunloye is currently being prosecuted by the EFCC on seven counts of charges bordering on official corruption and fraudulent award of the $6 billion Mambilla Power Project contract.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu, in a statement issued by his Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, emphasised that those defending Nigeria in the said case are doing so based on conviction and patriotism.
“The attention of the Presidency has been drawn to some fake news on social media about an arbitration proceeding in Paris to which the Nigerian Government is a party.
“The private proceeding, which should not have been reported in the media, is entirely confidential until the international arbitrators decide.
“While respecting the confidentiality of the proceeding, we wish to state categorically that President Bola Tinubu has not forced anyone to testify for or to refrain from testifying against Nigeria.
“All the eminent Nigerians involved in Nigeria’s defence are doing so willingly and out of sheer patriotism and conviction.
“President Tinubu and the entire country are grateful to them”.
