FG denies forcing eminent Nigerians to testify in reported ‘Mambilla Arbitration Case’ in Paris 

The denial was made in a statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President (Information and Strategy), on January 18, 2025.

Several reports on Saturday claimed that former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari appeared before a court in Paris to testify in an arbitration proceeding involving a $6 billion dispute over the Mambilla power project contract.

FG’s Denial 

He added that President Tinubu and the entire country remain deeply grateful to them for their selfless service.

The arbitration case reportedly stems from an alleged breach of contract terms related to the Mambilla hydropower project awarded to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company of Nigeria by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003.

The $6 billion project involves Leno Adesanya, the promoter of Sunrise Power, who has been entangled in multiple legal disputes with the Federal Government and its anti-graft agencies.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja recently stayed the execution of a Federal High Court judgment that had barred the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from investigating Adesanya over criminal allegations linked to the project.

The appeal court delivered its verdict two months back, following an application for a stay of execution filed by the Attorney General of the Federation’s counsel, T.A. Gazali, SAN.

Previously, Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court had ordered the EFCC to remove Leno Adesanya from its wanted list.

The judgment, delivered on Monday, September 23, 2024, was in response to a suit filed by Adesanya’s lawyer, M.S. Diri, SAN, against the EFCC, the Federal Ministry of Power and Steel, the Federal Government of Nigeria, and the Attorney General of the Federation.

The EFCC had declared Adesanya wanted for “an alleged case of conspiracy and corrupt offer to public officers” linked to the Mambilla project.