Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said he did not authorise the award of a $6 billion contract to Sunrise Power at the Mambilla Hydropower Project, Nigeria’s largest power plant, in 2003.
Obasanjo said this in an interview published by TheCable over the weekend.
Sunrise Power is currently in arbitration with Nigeria at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Paris, France, alleging breach of contract by the federal government.
The company, which claimed to have spent millions of dollars on financial and legal consultants before the $6 billion Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project was jettisoned, is asking for a compensation of $2.3 billion.
In the second arbitration, Sunrise is demanding $400 million settlement being the terms of the agreement it entered with the federal government in 2020 to end the arbitration.
Nigeria is fighting both claims on the grounds that then-Minister of Power and Steel, Mr Olu Agunloye, acted illegally when he suspiciously awarded the humongous contract one week before the end of his tenure in 2003.
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Speaking on the matter, Obasanjo said he was ready to testify before any tribunal of enquiry that he did not approve such a contract, noting that no minister had power to award any contract above N25 million without his express authorisation.
He said if he knew Agunloye had gone behind him to award such contract, he would have immediately sacked the minister.
“When I was president, no minister had the power to approve more than N25 million without express presidential consent. It was impossible for Agunloye to commit my government to a $6 billion project without my permission and I did not give him any permission.
“If a commission of inquiry is set up today to investigate the matter, I am ready to testify. I do not even need to testify because all the records are there. I never approved it.
“When he presented his memo to the federal executive council (on May 21, 2003), I was surprised because he had previously discussed it with me and I had told him to jettison the idea, that I had other ideas on how the power sector would be restructured and funded. I told him as much at the council meeting and directed him to step down the memo.
“I find it surprising that Agunloye is now claiming he acted on behalf of Nigeria. If I knew he issued such a letter to Sunrise, I would have sacked him as minister during my second term. He would not have spent a day longer in office.
“When I was in office, Leno Adesanya, the promoter of Sunrise Power, ran away from Nigeria. I would have jailed him if he was in the country because of the things I knew about him. After I left office, he returned and I saw him. I told him that he was lucky I was no longer president. Otherwise, I would have jailed him,” Obasanjo said.