Mambilla: Parallel trials in Nigeria and France as court amends charges against Agunloye

–corruption laden processes surrounding Mambilla in the face of inadequate electricity impact negatively on the economy, security and the social well-being of the people.

By Engr Felix Kajawah. 23 January 2025

In a rare moment in the morning of Thursday, 23rd January 2025, two Mambilla trials proceeded simultaneously at the Arbitration court in Paris, France, and in Abuja, Nigeria. The proceedings in France are the final stages of the processes at the International Arbitration Court, where Nigeria is defending itself in the case brought against it by Messrs. Sunrise Power and Transmission Company. This company, Sunrise, is seeking redress at the International Chambers of Commerce in France for arbitrary awards and breaches of Agreements by the Government of Nigeria.

The Arbitration was triggered by the award of the Mambilla hydroelectric power project in 2007 by Barrister Babatunde Raji Fashola who was the Minister of Power from 2015 to 2019 under the President Buhari regime. At the Arbitration, Messrs Sunrise is demanding whooping damages of $2.3 billion from the Federal Government while FGN is pleading massive corruption in the operations and activities in Nigeria leading to the awards of contracts and Agreements on the Mambilla project from 2003 to 2022 excepting the case of the 2017 activities of Minister Fashola. Incidentally, both Mr. Fashola and former President Buhari are currently in court in France as at this day to defend their actions on the Mambilla project. Other Ministers and Officials of the Nigerian Government are also in France.

Happening concurrently also, on 23 January 2025, the FCT High Court in Abuja which has been trying Dr Agunloye on criminal charges on Mambilla project since January 2024 was sitting under Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie. It was Dr Agunloye, former Minister of Power from 2002 to 2003 under President Olusegun Obasanjo, who awarded the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power project in 2003 as a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract to Sunrise at no cost to the Government of Nigeria. For this contract, FGN did not pay anything and has not paid any amount to Sunrise up till date. But in a rather strange development, EFCC dragged the former Minister to court 20 years after leaving office and charged him for awarding the BOT contract “without any budgetary provision, approval and cash backing and for corruptly receiving three bribes totalling N5,200,000 (five million and two hundred Naira) in 2019 through bank transfers from Sunrise Power and Adesanya for the award of the Mambilla BOT contract in 2003.”

The trial against Agunloye proceeded in spite of Agunloye’s insistence that he was being unjustly framed for a conviction to be used as an accessory by the Government of Nigeria at the Arbitration court in France with an intention to convince the Arbitration panel that the claims of Sunrise were based on corruption as pleaded by FGN under President Buhari. In this way, FGN was hoping to evade any liabilities or penalties at the Arbitration court according to Dr. Agunloye.

In the recent past, Dr. Agunloye publicly joined issues with former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who is also at the Arbitration court in France to testify that he did not know that the 2003 BOT contract was awarded under his presidency until 20 years after. Agunloye strongly disagrees with this and insists that there is abundant evidence that Chief Obasanjo knew about the 2003 BOT contract award and acted on the award in 2005 and 2006. Former Minister Agunloye also pointed to the investigation carried out by President Yar’Adua in 2007 which confirmed that the BOT contract of 2003 was legitimately awarded.

The Agunloye trial in Nigeria continued at full swing until mid-June 2024, when the EFCC presented its first witness to testify about the “2019 bribes for a 2003 BOT contract”. The prosecution witness failed to show that the three payments transferred to Dr Agunloye’s bank account in August (N3,600,000), October (N500,000), and November (N1,100,000) in Year 2019 were payments from “Sunrise Company and Adesanya” as claimed by EFCC. It was at this stage that EFCC sought to modify the three charges so that they can insert the phrase “through Mr Jide Sotirin” after “payment from Sunrise Company and Adesanya” in each of the three charges. After the lawyers on both sides settled on the procedure of amending the charges which were demolished by cross examination, the judge appointed the eventful date of 23 January 2023 to give his ruling. This is how two parallel trials got on track on the same day, one at the Arbitration Court in Paris, the other at the court of Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie in Abuja. The judge read his ruling very briskly and concluded that the charges could be amended especially when they were “imperfect and erroneous”. He granted the application of EFCC to amend them as allowed by law.

The Nigerian court adjourned till 3 February 2025 to re-arraign the former Minister of Power, Dr. Agunloye on the freshly amended charges and thereafter proceed to cross examine the Witness of EFCC, who testified in June 2024, after which the prosecutor started the charge amendment process to cover up EFCC’s lapses. The trials of the vexing Mambilla project in Abuja and Paris may run concurrently once again on the 3rd of February 2025 if the hearing session by the Arbitration Panel has not been concluded.

As the corruption laden processes continue to delay the construction of the 3,050 megawatts Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, the pains and punishments from inadequate supply of electricity bite harder on the economy, security and industrial development of Nigeria and the social well-being of its 240 million people.

Engr. Felix Kajawah. Abuja. 23 January 2025