By Mr. Kingsley A Ikirodah
In the last few days, there have been several news reports about the ongoing arbitration on the $6 billion Nigerian Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project in faraway Paris in France. These reports are both encouraging and nauseating. The development is encouraging in the sense that the 25-year-old stalemate could be broken, and the Government of Nigeria may commence the processes of execution of the 3,050-Megawatt Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Plant. But it is rather disturbing that two former Nigerian presidents have submitted to the sovereignty of a foreign country to bow down for their Lordship to give testimony about the corruption in Nigeria at the International Arbitration Court of the International Chambers of Commerce in France.
Nigeria Government was dragged to the International Arbitration court in 2021 because the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) under President Buhari bypassed the 2012 Mambilla contract awarded to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company (Sunrise) by President Goodluck Jonathan and awarded it to another company in 2017 by Mr. Raji Fashola, erstwhile Minister of Power from 2015 to 2019. This award led to a significant commercial dispute, which resulted in odious public altercations between Mr. Leno Adesanya, the proprietor of Sunrise and Mr. Raji Fashola, the then Minister of Power. The two of them flooded local newspapers with accusations and counter accusations spread in 12 full-page advertorials in five or six newspapers.
The ripples of Mambilla commercial dispute got to China. The current Chinese President sent a special envoy to Nigeria in July 2019 to advise the then President Buhari to properly disengage Sunrise to access the Chinese Eximbank funds earlier secured by Sunrise and its partners for the execution of the Mambilla power project. Soon after, the FGN, acting through the Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Finance, Minister of Power and the Attorney General of the Federation negotiated with Sunrise in London in late 2019 and eventually arranged for the signing of two Settlement Agreements. The first was an offer of $200m and the local content contract, which was signed in January 2020. When the FGN breached this Agreement, the ministers went into another round of negotiations and finally offered another Settlement Agreement with Sunrise offering $400m without any local content contract. This was signed by all parties in March 2020. Again, FGN breached this Agreement towards the end of 2020. After this, Sunrise headed to the International Arbitration court in France in 2021 to seek redress.
It became clear to FGN in late 2022 that there were some defects in its defence at the Arbitration. It therefore resorted to an incredulous strategy which was to criminalise the activities of all government officials including ministers who worked on the Mambilla project from 2001 to 2023 except those under the President Buhari’s Government which awarded the 2017 contract. This set of President Buhari ministers include Alhaji Abubakar Malami, Mr Raji Fashola, and Engr Mamman Salleh who were drafted as defence witnesses at the Arbitration.
The adopted FGN defence style ignored the facts and concentrated on denials by former presidents and searching for dirt, corruption, and retroactive bribes. At the Arbitration, FGN centred its defence on rigorous attempts to establish that the 2003 BOT contract awarded to Sunrise was illegal and fraudulent. FGN will rely on former President Obasanjo to testify at the Arbitration that the BOT contract was awarded by his Minister of Power under his Administration but he did not know about it all through his four years as President from 2003 to 2007 and not until 20 years later in 2023; notwithstanding that he moved all power sector projects including the Mambilla project from the ministry of power to his presidency under his person supervision as President.
The adopted FGN defence deliberately ignored the actions of four consecutive presidents, over 20 (twenty) years, which point to the legitimacy of the 2003 BOT Mambilla Contract as highlighted briefly below:
(a) President Obasanjo’s actions between 2003 and 2007 which led to his promulgation of a new law in 2005 which made Federal Executive Council approval mandatory for all ministers, the replacement of all BOT contracts with direct purchases, and the acquisition and liquidation of $16 billion excess crude oil funds. He also awarded part of the Mambilla power project as a $1.4 billion Mambilla subcontract to another company on 28 May 2007, his last day in Office.
(b) The report of President Yar’Adua’s investigation into the validity of the 2003 BOT contract award in 2007 which cleared it as a contract properly awarded and the subsequent cancellation by Yar’Adua in 2008 of the $1.4 billion Mambilla subcontract awarded by President Obasanjo in 2007. Also, President Yar’Adua instituted a far-reaching probe into the Power Sector from 1999 to 2007 and thereafter awarded the full Mambilla project back to Sunrise before he died in 2010.
(c) President Jonathan revisited the Mambilla power project and formally signed elaborate contracts with Sunrise and his Chinese government partners and produced a comprehensive General Project Execution Agreement in 2012, referred to, as GPEA 2012.
(d) President Buhari gave directives to the then Minister Fashola in 2015 and 2016 to respect the GPEA 2012. The president acted through his Chief of Staff, Malam Abba Kyari, and the Attorney General of the Federation, Alhaji Abubakar Malami. Also, there were great manipulations and manoeuvres on the Mambilla power project by the then Minister of Power, Mr Fashola and the then Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo when President Buhari was very sick and away from Nigeria. These led to the 2017 contract that later landed Nigeria at the Arbitration.
Currently, two former presidents of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Mr. Muhammadu Buhari will be going into the witness box in France to tell the world how corrupt and unruly their country and governments were and how their Ministers always acted without the approvals of their presidents. This won’t be the best for the image and credibility of Nigeria.
Kingsley A Ikirodah
22 January 2025