- Over alleged compromise in $500,000 Mambilla payment
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign of Council has asked the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to withdraw from the 2027 race, alleging that fresh disclosures from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration over the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project raise serious questions about his role in the controversial contract.
The council, in a statement issued on Friday by its spokesman, Dele Alake, accused the former Vice President of putting personal interests ahead of Nigeria’s national interest while serving under former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The allegations came a day after an ICC arbitration tribunal sitting in Paris ruled in favour of Nigeria in the long-running dispute with Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited over the Mambilla project.
The tribunal rejected Sunrise’s claims, including a $2.35 billion claim over the project, and also dismissed a separate $400 million settlement claim. It further ordered Sunrise and its promoter, Leno Adesanya, to reimburse Nigeria for 75 percent of its legal fees and expenses, amounting to about $11.82 million.
The ruling brought significant relief to Nigeria, which had faced potential exposure of more than $3.38 billion from related claims arising from the long-running Mambilla dispute.
However, proceedings examined by the tribunal also brought renewed attention to a $500,000 payment made by Adesanya on January 30, 2003, to the United States bank account of Jennifer Douglas, who was then married to Atiku, the Vice President.
According to the final award, the payment was made through China Castle Investments Limited, an offshore company controlled by Adesanya, shortly after Sunrise had submitted its tender for the Mambilla project and less than four months before the company was purportedly awarded a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contract.
Adesanya told the tribunal that the payment was part of a foreign-exchange transaction carried out for Atiku. The tribunal, however, rejected the explanation because it was not supported by sufficient corroborating evidence, according to details of the award reported by TheCable.
The tribunal also considered the timing of the payment in relation to the alleged contract award. Its findings noted a close temporal connection between the January 30, 2003 transfer and the purported award of the BOT contract to Sunrise on May 22, 2003.
The payment has consequently become a major political weapon for the APC campaign against Atiku, who emerged as the ADC’s presidential candidate for the 2027 election.
In its statement, the APC Campaign Council alleged that Atiku and former Minister of Power, Olu Agunloye, worked together to facilitate the disputed Mambilla contract despite reservations attributed to Obasanjo.