Mambilla Project Scandal: Atiku Fights Back Against APC's 'Sleaze' Accusations

The International Arbitration Tribunal, under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, France, has delivered a significant judgment in favor of Nigeria regarding the $2.35 billion award sought by Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Ltd (Sunrise) over the stalled 3960mw Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project in Taraba State. The three-member tribunal dismissed Sunrise's claim that Nigeria breached contractual obligations under a settlement agreement and its addendum, further directing Sunrise and its promoter, Leno Adesanya, to refund Nigeria's legal fees totaling $11.8 million.

Following this celebrated judgment, Nigeria's political landscape saw accusations leveled against the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, by the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council. Dele Alake, Spokesman for the APC PCC, alleged that Atiku Abubakar, as former Vice-President, alongside then Power Minister Dr. Olu Agunloye, "worked in cahoots to sign an illegal power contract with Sunrise." The APC further claimed that former President Olusegun Obasanjo had objected to negotiations with Sunrise Power, but Atiku allegedly proceeded with a "backdoor signing" of the contract in the dying days of Obasanjo's first term.

The APC PCC explicitly accused Atiku Abubakar of collecting a $500,000 bribe from Leno Adesanya of Sunrise Power to facilitate the deal. This money, allegedly wired through an offshore account, China Castle Investment, to the US Citibank account of his then-wife, Jennifer Douglas, arrived in tranches and raised red flags in the United States. A US Senate investigation, titled "Keeping Foreign Corruption out of the United States: Four Case Histories," reportedly found these wired funds and other suspicious transfers totaling $40 million, with Jennifer Douglas stating her husband sent the money, though she was unfamiliar with the offshore company.

The ICC Paris Tribunal itself noted a "close connection in time between the moment the USD 500,000 payment was made to the wife of Vice-President Abubakar on 30 January 2003 and the alleged award of the BOT contract to Sunrise on 22 May 2003." The APC argued that Atiku's actions, by allegedly approving a Build-Operate-Transfer contract to a company lacking experience in hydropower generation, proved him an "enabler of local and international predatory and exploitative entities." Consequently, the APC Campaign Council called upon Atiku Abubakar to "do himself a rare honour by bowing out of the presidential race," asserting that the $500,000 bribe was merely "the tip of the iceberg" of impending corruption revelations.

In response, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar vehemently denied that the Mambilla arbitration award delivered any corruption verdict against him. Through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku challenged the APC to produce the exact paragraph in the tribunal's ruling where such a finding was made. He accused the APC Campaign Council of distorting the outcome of the arbitration and clarified that it was incorrect to assume every action of the Obasanjo administration was automatically attributable to him, citing his open opposition to the third-term debate as an example.

Atiku stressed his non-involvement in the contract process, stating, "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. I did not award the contract." Regarding the $500,000 transfer, he acknowledged the tribunal examined the funds transferred to Jennifer Douglas and rejected Adesanya’s explanation that it was a foreign exchange transaction due to lack of documentary evidence. However, Atiku emphasized that "rejecting Adesanya’s explanation is different from a finding that he received a bribe or corruptly influenced the contract."

Atiku also rejected claims that he stayed away after being summoned by the tribunal. He clarified that he was not a party to the arbitration and did not testify, distinguishing between a party attempting to secure testimony and the tribunal itself issuing a summons. He noted that while former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, along with former ministers, testified on behalf of Nigeria, the arbitration was exclusively between Sunrise Power, Leno Adesanya, and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, resulting in Sunrise's claims being dismissed and no damages, costs, or liability imposed on him personally. Atiku concluded by reiterating his challenge to the APC to identify specific paragraphs where the tribunal found him culpable of corruption, urging Nigerians to differentiate between allegation and adjudication.