EFCC to present ex-governor as prosecution witness against ex-minister in corruption trial

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is set to present former Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke as a prosecution witness in the trial of former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, on corruption charges regarding the 2003 award of the Mambilla Hydropower Station contract.

Mr Imoke appeared in court for the trial on Monday, but he could not testify due to an objection from the defence team.

The defence maintained that Mr Imoke could not take the stand until the prosecution served them with the summary of the statement on which he would testify.

Trial Judge Jude Onwuegbuzie agreed with the defence, postponing proceedings so the EFCC could serve the necessary document on the defence team.

Mr Imoke succeeded Mr Agunloye as the power minister in July 2003 and served until January 2007, during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.

He later became the Governor of Cross River State in May 2007 and served in that capacity until May 2015.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) listed Mr Imoke as a prosecution witness against Mr Agunloye, who faces seven charges including disobedience to a presidential directive, conspiracy, forgery and receiving gratification.

The charges stemmed from his roles in the award of the $6 billion Mambilla Hydroelectric Power contract in May 2003 to Power and Transmission Company Limited.

The project was a proposed 3,050 MW hydroelectric facility located in Kakara village, Taraba State, which never saw the light of the day.

The prosecution said Mr Agunloye disobeyed a presidential directive issued in 2003 during a Federal Executive Council meeting regarding the contract.

It 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.”

The anti-graft agency also accused Mr Agunloye of conspiring with Leno Adesanya, who the agency indicated was at large, to falsify a document titled “Construction of 3,960MW Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station on a Build, Operate and Transfer Basis” in 2003.

Other allegations include receiving gratifications of over N5 million from the company and Mr Adesanya.

Mr Agunloye has denied all seven charges.

Imoke’s testimony stalled

The EFCC attempted to present Mr Imoke as its sixth prosecution witness on Monday.

EFCC’s lawyer, Abba Muhammed, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), informed the court that the prosecution had filed 11 additional documents as proof of evidence and served it on the defence team.

He said told the court that the prosecution was set to present its next witness.

But defence lawyer Adeola Adedipe, also a SAN, objected on the grounds that the defence had not been served with the summary of the proposed witness’s statement.

He cited Section 379(1)(a)(i)(ii) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2021, and Section 36(6) of the Nigerian constitution to back his objection.

Mr Adedipe said the prosecution must provide the defendant with all material facts needed for his defence, as well as adequate time to prepare, in line with those provisions.

He told the court that in spite of repeated requests, the prosecution had not disclosed who its next witness would be, adding that this had left the defence team in the dark and unable to prepare.

He said Mr Imoke’s sudden appearance in court was intended to ambush the defence.

Mr Adedipe maintained that there was a distinction between a list of exhibits to be tendered and the summary of witnesses’ statements under Section 379 of the ACJA.

He explained that an exhibit before the court could not substitute for the summary of a witness’s statement.

He, therefore, urged the court, in the interest of justice, to direct the prosecution to file the summary of Mr Imoke’s statement and serve it on the defence.

Responding, Mr Muhammed said the prosecution had complied with the requirements of the law.

He added that the witness was listed among other prosecution witnesses in the first proof of evidence dated 27 September 2023, including a summary of their expected testimony.

The prosecution counsel noted that some of the witnesses listed in the proof of evidence had already testified before the court.

Mr Muhammed also pointed out certain documents tendered through a previous witness, which he said included the summary of Mr Imoke’s statement.

After listening to both parties, Justice Onwuegbuzie held that the prosecution ought to provide the summary of its witnesses to the defence.

He subsequently directed the EFCC to file the summary of Imoke’s statement and serve the defence with it.

He then adjourned the matter until 19 October.

Background

The anti-corruption agency re-arraigned the former minister before trial judge Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Apo, Abuja.

He was re-arraigned on amended seven counts of forgery, receiving gratification, and disobedience to presidential directives.

He pleaded not guilty to all seven counts when read to him again on Thursday.

The re-arraignment followed a fresh amendment of the charges. The amendment does not materially alter the case of the prosecution.

EFCC first arraigned Mr Agunloye in January 2024.

Following an amendment to the original charges less than a month later, the EFCC re-arraigned Mr Agunloye on 3 February 2024.

It again rearraigned him on 18 September 2025, after a further amendment of the charges.

The EFCC has already presented six prosecution witnesses in the trial.

The trial has thrown up contention regarding the minutes of the 21 May 2003 Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting during which the then-president was said to have issued the directive regarding the Mambilla power project that Mr Agunloye is accused of disobeying.

The prosecution earlier tendered the minutes, which originated from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), as an exhibit in the trial.

Umar Babangida, an EFCC investigator who testified in the case as the third prosecution witness, told the court last year that Mr Obasanjo had been interviewed regarding the case.

He also cited a November 2023 letter Mr Obasanjo wrote to the incumbent Attorney-General of the Federation’s office, indicating 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”.

However, the prosecution has yet to confirm if Mr Obasanjo will be presented as a prosecution witness.

In December 2023, EFCC declared Mr Agunloye wanted over the case.

The next day, Mr Agunloye surrendered to the EFCC for interrogation regarding 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.

However, earlier this month, Mr Agunloye won a libel case against the EFCC over the agency’s portrayal of the trial in a publication.

In the case, Judge Peter Kekemeke of the FCT High Court found the EFCC liable for defaming Mr Agunloye in its publication regarding the former minister’s trial.

The judge awarded N10 million against the EFCC for publishing the libelous article on its social media platforms against Mr Agunloye.

“EFCC failed to prove the truth in the said publication,” the judge ruled, holding that the post was unfair and used a “sensational headline” against the former minister.

But the EFCC has appealed the judgement.

Controversial contract

The project, first awarded in 2003 to Sunrise Power and Transmission Limited by the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration, is the subject of decades of a 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.

The project, intended to generate 3,960 megawatts of electricity, was designed to be executed on a build, operate, and transfer basis.