President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has commended the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for its investigation into the alleged irregular award of a 6 billion dollar contract for the construction of the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station in Taraba State.
The President said the EFCC’s findings were pivotal to the Federal Government’s victory over Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited, SPTCL, at an International Arbitration Tribunal on September 17, 2026.
The dispute concerns the proposed 3,960-megawatt Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project and an alleged contract awarded to SPTCL in 2003.
In a statement, Tinubu also commended the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, the Federal Ministry of Justice and the country’s legal defence team led by Elizabeth Oger-Gross and Tolu Obamuroh of Paul Hastings LLP.
He acknowledged the contributions of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the late President Muhammadu Buhari, who testified in the case, as well as former power ministers Babatunde Fashola and Suleiman Adamu and other witnesses and experts.
The President said the government remained committed to working with genuine investors and honouring its legal obligations, but would continue to defend what he described as opportunistic claims against the country’s resources.
The tribunal, operating under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, rejected SPTCL’s demand for 680 million dollars in damages, settlement and interest in one of the arbitration proceedings.
The company is also seeking more than 2.7 billion dollars in compensation and interest in a separate arbitration relating to disputes over the Mambilla project.
The contract at the centre of the dispute was reportedly awarded on May 22, 2003, by then Minister of Power Olu Agunloye to SPTCL on a build-operate-and-transfer basis.
According to the EFCC’s investigation, the contract was awarded without approval from the National Executive Council, which was chaired at the time by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The commission also alleged that the award involved favouritism because SPTCL owner Leno Adesanya and Agunloye were longstanding associates.
The EFCC further alleged that, in August 2019, SPTCL transferred 3.6 million naira to an account belonging to the former minister.
Tinubu described the tribunal’s decision as a major legal development that clears a significant hurdle affecting the Mambilla hydropower project for years.
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