EFCC quizzes Agunloye over Mambilla contract payment allegedly traced to his account

EFCC quizzes Agunloye over Mambilla contract payment allegedly traced to his account

 

Former Minister of Power Olu Agunloye has been quizzed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in connection with alleged shady award of $6bn Mambilla hydropower contract and illegal payment.

The unauthorised payment was reportedly traced to his account after committing the Federal Government to the disputed contract awarded to Sunrise Power Ltd, promoted by Leno Adesanya.

Sunrise is in arbitration with Nigeria at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Paris, France, over an alleged breach of contract.

It is asking for a compensation of $2.3bn, claiming it had spent millions of dollars on financial and legal consultants before the contract was jettisoned.

It is also asking for a $400m settlement being the terms of the agreement it entered into with the FG in 2020 to end the arbitration.

In a recent interview with TheCable, former President Olusegun Obasanjo had challenged Agunloye to tell Nigerians where he derived the authority to award the $6bn contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd for the Mambilla hydropower project in 2003.

Agunloye in his response said the government was not obliged to pay a kobo to Sunrise under the build, operate and transfer (BOT) agreement as it was to be fully funded by the newly registered company, whose declared assets were worth less than $2,000 at the time.

He was however silent on where and how he got authorisation to commit the government to the $6bn project.

Agunloye awarded the contract to Sunrise a day after the Federal Executive Council asked him to step down his memo.

This was one week to the end of his tenure as minister of power in May 2003.

EFCC findings

The EFCC reportedly discovered a number of transactions between Sunrise Power and government officials found to be inappropriate and could have material impact on the arbitration.

There was a transfer made by a Sunrise Power official to Agunloye with the description “FRM LENO”, according to TheCable’s report.

 

Sunrise however defended the action, saying it was a “cultural payment” to support the former minister’s medical expenses.

It was also reported that a number of serving and former government officials would be charged to court on the issue.