By Staff Reporter
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has challenged former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to address questions surrounding a $500,000 payment made to his former wife, Jennifer Douglas, during negotiations over the controversial Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project in 2003.
Onanuga, in a statement on Friday, accused Atiku of avoiding questions concerning the payment while using a press conference to criticise the Federal Government over issues including petrol subsidy and electricity subsidies.
The controversy followed details contained in the final award of an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration tribunal in Paris concerning the long-running dispute between Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited and the Federal Government of Nigeria.
According to the tribunal’s findings, Leno Adesanya, promoter of Sunrise Power, acknowledged transferring $500,000 to Douglas on January 30, 2003, through China Castle Investments Limited, an offshore company he controlled.
Adesanya told the tribunal that the payment was part of a foreign-exchange transaction carried out for Atiku and was unrelated to Sunrise’s bid for the Mambilla project.
However, the tribunal found that Adesanya’s explanation was not supported by contemporaneous documentary evidence, including records showing the underlying naira payment, exchange rate, instructions from Atiku or his aides, or documentation establishing the commercial purpose of the transaction.
The payment was made less than four months before then Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, purportedly awarded Sunrise a build-operate-transfer contract for the 3,960-megawatt Mambilla project.
The tribunal examined the timing of the payment and its possible connection with the project. However, reports on the award indicate that it did not make a finding that Atiku personally received a bribe or that he directed the payment. Atiku was also not a party to the arbitration and did not testify before the tribunal.
Onanuga nevertheless called on the former vice-president to provide an explanation, arguing that a politician seeking the presidency should address questions surrounding his record and integrity.
The presidential aide also criticised Atiku’s recent comments on the Federal Government’s economic policies, particularly his position on petrol subsidies and his claim that the administration planned to withdraw electricity subsidies.
Onanuga said such allegations amounted to an attempt to divert public attention from the issues surrounding the Mambilla controversy.
He further highlighted the financial implications of the arbitration, noting that Sunrise had sought hundreds of millions of dollars from Nigeria in connection with the Mambilla project.
The ICC tribunal ultimately rejected Sunrise’s claims against Nigeria. The Federal Government said the company had sought $680 million in settlement and interest, in addition to a claim exceeding $2.7 billion in compensation and interest relating to disputes over the development of the Mambilla project.
Onanuga maintained that Atiku should directly address the questions arising from the $500,000 transaction rather than diverting attention to other political issues.
The latest development has renewed political debate over the Mambilla project and the circumstances surrounding the payment to Atiku’s former wife.
