ICC verdict that favoured Nigeria in Mambilla-Sunrise deal highlights $500k payment to Atiku’s ex-wife

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration tribunal in Paris has rejected Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited’s $2.35 billion claim against Nigeria over the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, with its final award highlighting a $500,000 payment made to Jennifer Douglas Abubakar, the former wife of ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.

The tribunal’s September 17, award examined the payment made by Sunrise promoter, Leno Adesanya, through China Castle Investments Limited into Jennifer Douglas Abubakar’s Citibank account in January 2003, shortly before Sunrise was awarded the controversial Mambilla contract.

According to the tribunal, Nigeria argued that the payment was made to influence Atiku, who was Vice-President at the time, and that its timing, the efforts to conceal the transaction and the former Vice-President’s support for Sunrise were evidence of a corrupt arrangement. The tribunal considered the circumstances surrounding the transaction as part of Nigeria’s counterclaims.

The award said Adesanya had acknowledged making the payment and recognised that Atiku was a powerful official capable of influencing the award of the contract.

The tribunal also examined other alleged payments involving officials connected with the Mambilla project, including about N5.2 million received by former Minister of Power, Olu Agunloye, in 2019 through an intermediary.

Beyond the corruption-related findings, the tribunal dismissed Sunrise’s claims arising from the Mambilla agreements and rejected its separate demand for $400 million under a 2020 settlement arrangement.

It also ruled that Adesanya was bound by the arbitration agreement and that it had jurisdiction over Nigeria’s counterclaim against him and his company.

The tribunal ordered Sunrise and Adesanya to reimburse Nigeria 75 per cent of its legal fees and expenses, amounting to $11.82 million. Of the sum, $2.5 million is to be released from funds held in escrow by the ICC, while the remaining $9.32 million is to be paid by Sunrise and Adesanya with interest at 10 per cent annually until full payment.

The dispute dates back to a 2003 proposal for the construction of the Mambilla hydroelectric project in Taraba State under a build-operate-transfer arrangement.

Nigeria had maintained that the contract awarded to Sunrise was not authorised by the Federal Executive Council.

The arbitration began in 2017 after Sunrise sought about $2.35 billion from Nigeria over the project. The dispute later expanded to include claims connected to a 2020 settlement agreement.

President Bola Tinubu welcomed the tribunal’s decision, describing it as clearing “the single biggest legal hurdle” that had stalled the Mambilla hydropower project for years.

The President also said the ruling would allow Nigeria to pursue the continuation of the project while defending the country’s interests against claims he described as opportunistic.