The Federal Government has been urged to examine a $500,000 transaction involving former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and a promoter of Sunrise Power, following issues raised during the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration over Nigeria’s disputed Mambilla power project.
According to Northern Nigeria Hub, the call was made by the Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI), which said Nigerian authorities should independently examine the circumstances surrounding the payment and determine whether it raised public accountability or conflict-of-interest concerns.
In a policy brief signed by its chairman, Dr Omoniyi Akinsiju, the group drew attention to a January 2003 transfer made by Leno Adesanya, promoter of Sunrise Power, to Jennifer Douglas, who was then married to Atiku. The money was sent through China Castle Investments Limited, an offshore company controlled by Adesanya.
The transaction featured in the ICC proceedings after Adesanya maintained that the money represented a legitimate foreign-exchange transaction carried out for Atiku. The tribunal, however, said the explanation was unsupported by documents establishing the naira payment, applicable exchange rate, instructions for the transaction or its commercial purpose.
IMPI said the payment deserves scrutiny because it occurred while Adesanya was pursuing the Mambilla project and months before Sunrise was purportedly awarded the Build-Operate-Transfer contract. The group also pointed to Atiku’s involvement in government discussions surrounding the project while he served as vice-president.
The ICC tribunal did not conclude that Atiku used his government position to secure the contract for Sunrise. It said there was no evidence before it that he had exercised his official duties in a manner that facilitated the award, although it found that the circumstances surrounding the $500,000 payment raised questions and said it could not exclude a connection between the transaction and Atiku’s government role.
IMPI is consequently calling on Nigerian investigative and judicial authorities, including the Code of Conduct Tribunal, to examine the transaction independently of the contractual dispute determined by the ICC.
The Mambilla controversy dates back to a 2003 agreement involving Sunrise Power for the development of a major hydroelectric project in Taraba State. The company subsequently pursued arbitration claims against Nigeria, with the ICC tribunal rejecting the claims in its recent ruling.
