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The Presidential Campaign Council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race, saying fresh revelations from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration on the Mambilla hydropower project raise serious questions over his role in the controversial contract.
The council, in a statement released on Friday by its spokesperson, Dele Alake, accused the former vice president of putting personal interests ahead of Nigeria’s national interest while serving under former president Olusegun Obasanjo.
The charges came a day after an ICC arbitral tribunal sitting in Paris ruled in favor of Nigeria in its long-running dispute with Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited over the Mambilla project.
The court rejected Sunrise’s claims, including a $2.35 billion claim on the project, and also rejected a separate $400 million settlement request. He also ordered Sunrise and its promoter, Leno Adesanya, to reimburse Nigeria 75% of its legal costs, or about $11.82 million.
The ruling brought significant relief to Nigeria, which had been facing a potential exposure of more than $3.38 billion from compensation claims arising from the long-running Mambilla dispute.
However, the proceedings heard by the court also brought renewed attention to a $500,000 payment made by Adesanya on January 30, 2003, to the U.S. bank account of Jennifer Douglas, who was then married to Atiku, the vice president.
According to the final award, the payment was made through China Castle Investments Limited, an offshore company controlled by Adesanya, shortly after Sunrise submitted its bid for the Mambilla project and less than four months before the company was allegedly awarded a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contract.
Adesanya told the court that the payment was part of a foreign exchange transaction made for Atiku. The court, however, rejected the explanation as not supported by sufficient corroborating evidence, according to details of the award reported by TheCable.
The court also considered the timing of payment in relation to the alleged award of the contract. Its findings found a close temporal connection between the January 30, 2003 transfer and the purported award of the BOT contract to Sunrise on May 22, 2003.
The payment has therefore become a major political weapon for the APC’s campaign against Atiku, who has emerged as the ADC’s presidential candidate for the 2027 elections.
In its statement, the APC Campaign Council said Atiku and former Energy Minister, Olu Agunloye, worked together to facilitate the disputed Mambilla contract despite reservations attributed to Obasanjo.
The council said the contract was signed during the final months of Obasanjo’s first term, when Atiku was vice president and wielded considerable influence within the administration. He further claimed that the transaction involving Douglas was related to the contract and described the payment as a bribe.
According to the arbitration details, Sunrise had been pursuing the project since 2001 and submitted its proposal to a multi-agency technical committee in January 2003. The committee subsequently recommended Sunrise for the project.
Former Energy Minister Olu Agunloye subsequently sought Obasanjo’s approval for steps towards awarding the project to Sunrise.
Obasanjo, according to evidence examined in the arbitration, ordered that the matter be presented to the Federal Executive Council. The purported May 22, 2003 award subsequently became a central issue in Sunrise’s legal actions against Nigeria.
The long-running dispute eventually escalated into an international arbitration proceeding, with Sunrise seeking billions of dollars in compensation.
Sunrise launched one of the major arbitration proceedings in 2017, seeking $2.354 billion for alleged breach of contractual obligations related to the Mambilla project. A subsequent dispute involved a $400 million claim under a 2020 settlement agreement.
The ICC’s final ruling dismissed the charges against Nigeria and found that the arbitration agreement under the settlement agreement bound Adesanya. The court also asserted its jurisdiction over Nigeria’s counterclaim against him and his company.
The APC Campaign Council, however, sought to link the arbitration results directly to Atiku’s political suitability.
Alake said the former vice president’s alleged involvement in the Mambilla controversy demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice national interest for personal gain. He also criticized Atiku for not appearing before the Paris court to provide evidence, in contrast to former presidents Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, who according to the APC statement appeared in proceedings to defend Nigeria’s position.
The council also cited criticism of Atiku contained in Obasanjo’s memoir, My Watch, including allegations of corruption, disloyalty and lack of transparency.
Alake said the $500,000 payment represents only the beginning of what the APC described as further revelations regarding Atiku and called on him to “withdraw” from the 2027 presidential contest.
The APC spokesperson also linked the Mambilla dispute to Taraba State, arguing that the protracted dispute had contributed to the failure of the development of a large hydropower project capable of generating electricity and spurring economic activity in the state.
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