Former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari have defended Nigeria in a $2.3 billion arbitration case filed by Sunrise Power at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris.
Henzodaily understands that the dispute revolves around allegations of a breached contract for the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, a proposed 3,050 MW facility.
Sunrise Power claims it was awarded a $6 billion build-operate-transfer contract for the project in 2003 during Obasanjo’s administration. The company is seeking $2.3 billion in compensation for costs incurred on financial and legal consultancy.
Presidents Deny Existence of Contract
During the hearing, which spanned January 18–23, both former leaders maintained there was no valid contract between Nigeria and Sunrise.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo testified on Wednesday, questioning the purported 2003 agreement.
In a 2023 interview, he had criticized his former Minister of Power, Olu Agunloye, for allegedly awarding the contract against Federal Executive Council (FEC) decisions.
On his part, Muhammadu Buhari testified on Thursday, stating that he did not authorize a 2020 settlement agreement for Sunrise.
A source close to the proceedings told Daily Trust that the testimonies from the former presidents bolstered Nigeria’s case.
“The government’s commitment to defending the nation’s interest was evident,” the source said, adding that Obasanjo and Buhari exposed Sunrise’s claims as fraudulent.
The source further explained that to the delight of the international team of lawyers representing Nigeria, the two past presidents did extremely well, exposing the Sunrise/Leno’s claim for what it is: an attempt using fraud, deceit and lies to scoop USD660,000 settlement from Nigeria in the first instance, for the alleged violation of a 2003 contract for which there is no valid approval.
According to the source, “It is evident from the proceedings that the case of the litigants was rooted in a purported 2003 agreement. The 2003 contract was established not to have been validly in existence. This is worsened by the fact that the litigants failed to produce their major witnesses.”
Setbacks for Sunrise Power
The case suffered multiple setbacks for Sunrise Power, including its failure to produce key witnesses, including Agunloye and a Senegalese witness. Its over-reliance on a witness statement by Abubakar Malami, former Attorney General, who ultimately supported Buhari’s testimony.
The source, who closely monitored the proceedings also said, “Another major setback suffered by the litigants was their over-reliance on an earlier witness statement deposed to by Abubakar Malami, Minister of Justice and Attorney General under President Buhari.
“Malami, on whose testimony the litigants made heavy weather was not fielded as a witness, but ended up lining behind his former boss, President Buhari, to support and prepare him well for his (Buhari’s) testimony.
“It was by and large a great showing, consolidated by the equally outstanding testimonies of former ministers, Engineer Sulaiman Adamu, formerly Water Resources and Babatunde Raji Fashola, Power.”
Additionally, Agunloye, who allegedly signed a letter approving the contract 24 hours after its rejection by FEC, remains under administrative bail by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for an unrelated case in Abuja.
When Daily Trust spoke to the EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, on whether Agunloye would testify at Paris, France, he said they didn’t know because they were not concerned about the matter, and as such it wouldn’t affect the ongoing case in Nigeria.