THE All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has asked former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race following fresh revelations about a $500,000 payment allegedly made to his former wife, Jennifer Douglas, by the promoter of Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited Leno Adesanya.
The call came hours after TheCable reported details from a final award issued by a three-member tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, which examined the payment allegedly made in January 2003, months before Sunrise was purportedly awarded a build-operate-transfer contract for the 3,960-megawatt Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project in Taraba State.
The Mambilla project, initially conceived in 1982 as a 3,050MW hydropower plant, became the subject of negotiations with Sunrise and its Chinese partner from 2001.
A technical committee recommended the company for a 3,960MW build-operate-transfer project in March 2003, and former Minister of Power, Olu Agunloye, later issued a letter that Sunrise relied on as the contract award. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who led Nigeria at the time, maintained that the Federal Executive Council did not approve the deal.
The dispute later went into international arbitration, while efforts to develop the project continued with a Chinese consortium. The legal dispute with Sunrise also affected the project financing, with China Exim Bank reportedly insisting that the matter be resolved before releasing funds.
According to TheCable, Adesanya told the tribunal that the $500,000 transferred through China Castle Investments Limited, an offshore company he controlled, was part of a foreign-exchange transaction carried out for Abubakar.
However, the tribunal said Adesanya failed to provide documents supporting his claim, including evidence of the underlying naira payment, the exchange rate used, instructions from Abubakar or his aides, correspondence relating to the transaction or records showing its commercial purpose.
The tribunal also said neither Abubakar nor Douglas testified in the arbitration or provided witness statements to corroborate Adesanya’s claim.
The fresh disclosure has become a major political issue as Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, prepares for the 2027 election, in which he is expected to challenge President Bola Tinubu and other contenders.
In a statement issued on Friday, Dele Alake, spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, the party under which Tinubu is seeking re-election, described the tribunal’s findings as evidence that Abubakar had compromised Nigeria’s interests for personal gain and called on him to abandon his presidential ambition.
Alake alleged that Abubakar and Agunloye worked together to facilitate what he described as an illegal contract for Sunrise during the final months of Obasanjo’s first term.
The APC spokesman also alleged that the alleged $500,000 payment was a bribe linked to the proposed Mambilla contract.
From $400m settlement to fresh arbitration
The ICIR reported in 2021 that Sunrise took Nigeria to the ICC in Paris, demanding enforcement of a March 2020 settlement agreement and payment of $400 million, including interest.
The company had sought between $960 million and $2.4 billion in damages over its claim that Nigeria breached its agreement relating to the Mambilla project.
A settlement reached in 2020 provided for Nigeria to pay Sunrise $200 million in exchange for the company dropping its claims relating to the project. The agreement also provided for an additional $200 million plus interest if the government failed to pay the initial sum within 180 days.
However, a memorandum from the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration in August 2020 said the government could not make the payment because falling oil prices and the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had affected government finances.
The dispute consequently continued and Sunrise later pursued further claims against Nigeria.
The latest ICC proceedings have now rejected Sunrise’s claims against Nigeria and ordered Sunrise and Adesanya to reimburse the country for 75 per cent of its legal fees and expenses.
APC demands Abubakar’s withdrawal
Against that backdrop, the APC campaign council alleged that the former vice-president’s involvement in the Mambilla negotiations, combined with the alleged payment to Douglas, demonstrated a conflict between his public responsibilities as vice-president and his personal interests.
He also criticised Abubukar for not appearing as a witness before the tribunal, saying the former vice-president avoided giving evidence that could have clarified the circumstances surrounding the payment.
The APC spokesman contrasted Abubakar’s absence with the participation of Obasanjo and the late Buhari in the arbitration proceedings on Nigeria’s behalf.
Alake called on Abubakar to “bow out” of the 2027 presidential race, saying the alleged $500,000 payment was only the beginning of further revelations the party expected concerning the former vice-president.
The APC also linked the Mambilla controversy to the stalled development of the hydroelectric project, arguing that the prolonged dispute had deprived Taraba State and Nigeria of potential economic benefits.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M