Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is set to testify today before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, France, as part of arbitration proceedings involving Nigeria and Sunrise Power.
The $2.3 billion case stems from allegations that the Nigerian government breached a contract with the company.
On Tuesday, Leno Adesanya, Chairman and CEO of Sunrise Power, testified before the ICC regarding the arbitration, which the company initiated in 2017.
The dispute centres on a 2003 agreement to construct the $6 billion Mambilla power plant in Taraba State using a “build, operate, and transfer” model.
In a 2023 interview with TheCable, Obasanjo accused his former Minister of Power, Olu Agunloye, of improperly awarding the contract to Sunrise without presidential approval.
Obasanjo stated, “No minister could approve more than N25 million without my express consent.
“I never approved the $6 billion project.” He added that if he had known about Agunloye’s actions, he would have dismissed him immediately.
Agunloye, however, defended himself, asserting that the deal did not obligate the government to pay Sunrise any funds upfront.
He explained that Sunrise was to fully finance the project, despite being a newly registered company with limited assets.
The dispute escalated when Sunrise filed a claim in 2017, seeking $2.354 billion in damages for the alleged contract breach.
Negotiations in 2020 resulted in an out-of-court settlement of $200 million, which the government reportedly failed to honour.
This led Sunrise to file an additional $400 million claim at the ICC, citing penalties and breaches of the new settlement terms.
Legal documents submitted by Sunrise revealed that the government had agreed to pay within 14 days of the settlement in January 2020.
The agreement also included a 10% penalty for any delays.
Sunrise claimed the federal government later reneged on the pact, citing the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former Minister of Power, Works, and Housing Babatunde Fashola had previously described Sunrise as a “middleman,” emphasizing that the Buhari administration directly engaged Sinohydro Corporation Limited, the Chinese contractor for the project.
The case has reignited debates over Nigeria’s handling of major infrastructure contracts and the role of local partnerships in such projects.
Obasanjo’s testimony is expected to shed more light on the origins of the dispute and the decisions made during his administration.
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