The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has called on the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race, following revelations surrounding a $500,000 payment made to his former wife during negotiations over the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.
The campaign council, in a statement on Friday signed by its spokesman, Dele Alake, said the findings arising from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration in Paris raised serious questions about Atiku’s role in the controversial project.
The ICC tribunal on Thursday ruled in favour of Nigeria, rejecting claims by Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited arising from disputes over the 3,960-megawatt Mambilla project in Taraba State. The company had sought hundreds of millions of dollars under a settlement agreement and more than $2.7 billion in related compensation and interest.
The campaign council alleged that Atiku and former Minister of Power, Olu Agunloye, worked together to facilitate the award of a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contract to Sunrise despite objections attributed to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Central to the controversy is a $500,000 payment made on January 30, 2003, by Sunrise promoter, Leno Adesanya, through China Castle Investments Limited to the Citibank account of Jennifer Douglas, Atiku’s then wife.
According to details from the tribunal’s final award, Adesanya acknowledged making the payment but said it was part of a foreign-exchange transaction carried out for Atiku.
However, the tribunal found that the explanation was not supported by contemporaneous documentary or witness evidence. Neither Atiku nor Douglas testified in the arbitration.
The tribunal also noted that the transfer was made through China Castle rather than Moneyline Ventures, the company Adesanya said he used for bureau de change activities, and that China Castle did not have a bureau de change licence.
The APC council, however, alleged that the payment constituted a bribe to influence the award of the Mambilla contract.
It said the tribunal’s findings were significant because the payment occurred less than four months before Sunrise was purportedly awarded the BOT contract.
The council quoted the tribunal as observing a “close connection in time” between the January 30, 2003 payment and the alleged award of the contract on May 22, 2003.
It also criticised Atiku for not appearing before the tribunal to give evidence, contrasting this with former presidents Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, who it said participated in proceedings in defence of Nigeria’s interests.
The APC campaign council further cited criticisms of Atiku contained in Obasanjo’s memoir, My Watch, while urging the former vice-president to withdraw from the 2027 presidential contest.
“The APC Campaign calls on Abubakar Atiku to do himself a rare honour by bowing out of the presidential race,” Alake said, arguing that the $500,000 payment was only the beginning of what he described as further revelations.
The council also said the controversy had particular significance for Taraba State, arguing that the stalled Mambilla project could have generated major economic benefits for the state and the country.
The ICC ruling itself rejected Sunrise’s claims against Nigeria and ordered the company and Adesanya to reimburse Nigeria for most of its legal costs. Reports on the tribunal’s award put the reimbursement at about $11.82 million.
