Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has rejected allegations by the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the controversial Mambilla power project, insisting that the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration tribunal in Paris did not indict him for corruption or find that he influenced the award of the contract to Sunrise Power.
Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), made the clarification in a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
His response followed calls by the APC Presidential Campaign Council for him to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race over allegations arising from the long-running dispute surrounding the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project in Taraba State.
The controversy followed an ICC tribunal ruling in Paris in favour of Nigeria. The tribunal rejected claims brought by Sunrise Power and ordered the company and its promoter, Leno Adesanya, to reimburse Nigeria for 75 per cent of its legal fees and expenses, amounting to about $11.8m.
Atiku said the tribunal’s consideration of a $500,000 payment made by Adesanya to Jennifer Douglas, his then-wife, should not be interpreted as a corruption finding against him.
According to reports on the tribunal’s award, Adesanya said the payment, made in January 2003, was part of a foreign-exchange transaction carried out for Atiku. However, the tribunal found that he had failed to provide sufficient documentary evidence to support that explanation.
Atiku challenged the APC to produce the specific section of the tribunal’s final award where it allegedly found that he received a $500,000 bribe, directed the award of the Mambilla contract to Sunrise or abused his office.
He also rejected claims that he personally participated in the procurement process that led to the award.
“I was not a member of the technical process that evaluated the competing proposals and recommended Sunrise. I did not sit on the procurement panel. I did not award the contract,” Atiku said.
He argued that allegations that he manipulated the process should be backed by evidence showing a specific instruction or intervention by him.
Atiku further disputed suggestions that he had been summoned by the tribunal and failed to appear.
He said he was not a party to the arbitration, did not testify before the tribunal and, according to the reported contents of the award, there was no finding that he had disobeyed an order to appear.
The former vice-president also accused the APC of turning allegations examined during the arbitration into conclusions that, he said, were not contained in the tribunal’s final award.
The ICC case centred on a long-running dispute between Nigeria and Sunrise Power over the Mambilla project. Sunrise had sought billions of dollars from the Federal Government over alleged breaches connected to agreements surrounding the project. The tribunal ultimately rejected the company’s claims against Nigeria.
The controversy over Atiku comes as political parties and their presidential candidates begin positioning themselves ahead of the 2027 general election.
Atiku maintains that the tribunal’s findings concerning the payment and the Mambilla dispute should not be presented as a corruption verdict against him, while the APC continues to question his role in events surrounding the project.
