An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigator told the FCT High Court in Abuja on Monday that former President Olusegun Obasanjo has indicated his interest to testify in the $6 billion Mambilla power project fraud trial of former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye.
Umar Babangida, who testified in the case as the third prosecution witness, cited a letter by Mr Obasanjo dated 27 November 2023 and addressed to the Attorney General of the Federation. He also told the court that his team of EFCC investigators had already interviewed Mr Obasanjo regarding the case.
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According to the witness, Mr Obasanjo stated in his letter to the AGF his willingness to testify about the controversial Mambilla Hydroelectric Power project in any arbitration court or forum whenever the need arose or should his testimony be considered “necessary in national interest”.
Mr Babangida, who testified under cross-examination by defence lawyer Adeola Adedipe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), also said Mr Obasanjo insisted that the Federal Executive Council (FEC), under his leadership as the then-president, never approved the award of the contract in 2003 as claimed by Mr Agunloye.
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EFCC is prosecuting Mr Agunloye on seven counts of forgery, receiving gratification, and disobedience to presidential directives regarding the award of the contract in May 2003.
The prosecution said Mr Agunloye disobeyed the directive by signing a letter “addressed to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited,” purportedly conveying “the approval of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the construction of the 3,960 megawatts Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station.”
Mr Agunloye, who pleaded not guilty to all seven counts, also described the allegations, before the charges were filed in court, as “baseless, false and malicious.”
Monday’s proceedings focused mainly on the origin of the controversial contract and the views Mr Obasanjo, who appointed Mr Agunloye as the power minister, expressed in his letter to the AGF, throwing his weight behind the prosecution’s case and countering the defendant’s claim.
How disputed contract started
During cross-examination by the defence lawyer, the third prosecution witness, who is an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), informed the court that the defendant wrote a letter dated 7 April 2003 to the then-President Obasanjo regarding the Mambilla contract proposal.
According to the witness, on page 3 of the letter, the defendant raised a prayer that Sunrise Power and Transmission Company be considered for the construction of the Mambila Hydroelectric Power Station.
“The former president minuted that ‘No objection but bring a memo to Council to include a comparison with coal-fired thermal for 4,000 megawatts to 5,000 megawatts.’ That was what the former President wrote,” Mr Babangida said.
He said Mr Agunloye subsequently brought a memo to the FEC as requested by Mr Obasanjo. The witness identified the former minister’s memo earlier admitted as Exhibit EFCC 3D with an attachment marked EC (2003) dated 15 May 2003.
Memo or no memo
But the witness also cited Mr Obasasnjo’s letter dated November 2023 to the Attorney-General of the Federation, in which he indicated his interest to testify in the case, stating that Mr Agunloye violated his directive to include the requested comparison in his memo to FEC.
“What is abundantly clear is that at no time did Dr Agunloye comply with the foregoing directive by bringing a memo to Council to include the [stated] comparison, nor can my directive be stretched to be inclusive of any approval to award any contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited or any other person,” Mr Obasanjo was quoted as saying in a letter to the AGF, Lateef Fagbemi.
Responding to a question, he said he was aware Mr Obasanjo wrote a letter to the AGF, which contained his willingness to testify against Agunloye in court or arbitration if need be, and the claim that the defendant did not bring a memo to FEC.
The defence lawyer, Mr Adedipe, construed Mr Obasanjo’s letter as stating that Mr Agunloye did not bring a memo to the FEC.
He asked the witness if Mr Obasanjo’s claim was true.
“I don’t know if what he (Mr Obasanjo) stated is true,” the witness responded.
Interview of Obasanjo
Mr Babangida said that EFCC’s team of investigators had an interview session with Mr Obasanjo during the investigation into the case. He denied knowing if the former president had a personal vendetta with the former minister.
The witness said the intent of the interview with Mr Obasanjo was to confirm if there was a presidential approval or not at the FEC meeting of 21 May 2003 informing the letter the defendant issued on 22 May 2003 to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited.
“He (Mr Obasanjo) was aware of the contract, but there was no approval which was clearly documented by the Federal Executive Council.
“He stated that no contract was awarded during his administration because there was no approval to award the contract,” the witness said.
He recalled that Mr Obasanjo’s attention was drawn to the existence of a contract award dated 22 May 2003, but that he was not informed that it was the subject of an international arbitration in Paris.
The trial judge, Jude Onwuegbuzie, adjourned proceedings until 3 December for continuation of cross-examination.
Background
The project, first awarded in 2003 to Sunrise Power and Transmission Limited by the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, is the subject of decades of legal dispute that is now under international arbitration between the company and the Nigerian government.
Mr Obasanjo, in 2023, accused Mr Agunloye of fraudulently awarding the contract to the company without approval.
However, the former minister dismissed these claims, alleging that he was being used as a scapegoat to escape sanction for abandoning contractual agreements on the project.
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The project, intended to generate 3,960 megawatts of electricity, was designed to be executed on a build, operate, and transfer basis.
He was declared wanted by the EFCC in 2023 over the case.
The day after, he surrendered himself to the EFCC for interrogation over the failed multi-billion-dollar Mambilla Hydropower project.
Mr Agunloye filed a suit against the EFCC, alleging abuse of his fundamental rights.
In March 2024, the Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed the suit.
