Atiku rejects APC claims over Mambilla power contract

FORMER Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has rejected allegations that he influenced the award of the Mambilla hydropower contract to Sunrise Power, insisting that the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration tribunal in Paris did not indict him for corruption.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said the tribunal’s ruling in the dispute between Sunrise Power and the Federal Government did not establish that he received a bribe or interfered with the procurement process.

He spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, in a statement issued on Friday.

The statement followed allegations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council that Atiku should withdraw from the 2027 presidential race over his alleged role in the Mambilla power project.

The controversy followed the ICC tribunal’s ruling on Thursday, which dismissed Sunrise Power’s $2.35 billion claim against Nigeria over the Mambilla hydropower project.

READ ALSO: Sunrise promoter admits $500,000 transfer to Atiku’s ex-wife during Mambilla negotiations

The tribunal rejected Sunrise’s argument that Nigeria had breached obligations under a settlement agreement and its addendum. It also ordered Sunrise and its promoter, Leno Adesanya, to reimburse Nigeria $11.8 million in legal costs.

During the arbitration, Adesanya told the tribunal that he transferred $500,000 to Jennifer Douglas, who was Atiku’s wife at the time, in January 2003.Olu Agunloye

The payment was made on January 30, 2003, several months before Sunrise was awarded a build-operate-transfer contract for the Mambilla project through China Castle Investments Limited, an offshore company controlled by Adesanya.

The details of the payment and the parties’ explanations were contained in the final award issued by the three-member tribunal.

The APC campaign council subsequently questioned the timing of the payment, arguing that it occurred while negotiations over the Mambilla project were ongoing.

The council alleged that Atiku, who was vice-president at the time, worked with the then Minister of Power, Olu Agunloye, to facilitate the award despite objections from former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Atiku, however, challenged the APC to identify any section of the tribunal’s final award in which he was found to have received a $500,000 bribe or directed Agunloye to award the contract to Sunrise.

READ ALSO: $6bn Mambilla case: Witness links FEC extract to SGF office, details EFCC request process

He accused the APC of presenting allegations made during the arbitration as though they amounted to a finding of corruption against him.

Atiku said the tribunal did not make such a finding and argued that an explanation rejected by the arbitrators from Adesanya did not automatically establish wrongdoing on his part.

He also maintained that he had no role in the technical procurement process that evaluated bids and recommended Sunrise.

“I was not a member of the technical process that evaluated the competing proposals and recommended Sunrise. I did not sit on the procurement panel,” Atiku said.

“I did not award the contract. So anyone alleging that I manipulated that process has a simple responsibility: show the instruction I gave, show the intervention I made, and show the paragraph of the tribunal award where that corrupt influence was found.”

The former vice-president also disputed claims that he was summoned by the tribunal but failed to appear. Atiku said he was not a party to the arbitration and did not give evidence before the tribunal.

He argued that an attempt by a party to an arbitration to obtain testimony from an individual was different from the tribunal itself issuing a summons.

“For the avoidance of doubt, I was not a party to the arbitration and I did not testify before the tribunal,” he said.

Atiku further said the involvement of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and the late Muhammadu Buhari in proceedings connected with the arbitration did not establish that he had been summoned or directed to testify.

The dispute over the Mambilla project has become a political issue ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 presidential election, with competing claims about the significance of the evidence presented during the arbitration and the tribunal’s eventual findings.