The payment was made about two weeks after Sunrise presented its tender for the Mambilla project and less than four months before the company was purportedly awarded the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contract
By Moses Okorie
The Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) has called for proceedings against former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) over a $500,000 payment made to his then-wife, Jennifer Douglas, during negotiations surrounding the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.
The group made the call following revelations contained in the final award of a three-member International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration tribunal in Paris concerning the long-running dispute between Sunrise Power and the Federal Government over the 3,960MW Mambilla project.
In a policy statement signed by its Chairman, Dr Omoniyi Akinsiju, IMPI said its review of the 616-page arbitral award showed that Leno Adesanya, promoter of Sunrise Power, transferred $500,000 on January 30, 2003, from China Castle Investments Ltd, an offshore company controlled by him, into Douglas’s Citibank account in the United States.
The payment was made about two weeks after Sunrise presented its tender for the Mambilla project and less than four months before the company was purportedly awarded the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contract.
The ICC tribunal examined the payment after Nigeria raised corruption-related allegations concerning the award of the Mambilla concession.
According to reports on the tribunal’s findings, Adesanya acknowledged making the transfer but told the tribunal that it was part of a foreign-exchange transaction carried out for Atiku and was unrelated to Sunrise’s bid for the project. The tribunal, however, noted that documentary evidence supporting that explanation was not provided.
IMPI said the timing of the transaction warranted further investigation, particularly given the proximity between the payment, Sunrise’s tender and subsequent developments in the concession process.
The group argued that the circumstances raised questions about compliance with Nigeria’s public-sector conduct rules and urged the relevant authorities to investigate the matter.
“Under Section 7 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, public officers are strictly prohibited from maintaining foreign bank accounts,” Akinsiju said.
He added that if investigations established that the former Vice-President was the ultimate source of the funds or maintained an undeclared foreign account while in office, the matter would require consideration under the applicable law.
Section 7 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act provides that specified public officers shall not maintain or operate bank accounts outside Nigeria.
IMPI said the arbitration proceedings also highlighted broader concerns about the interaction between private contractors and senior government officials during the early stages of the Mambilla project.
The group pointed to evidence before the tribunal concerning Adesanya’s contacts with Atiku and his participation in a Nigerian government delegation to China in 2002 during discussions around power projects, including Mambilla.
It said the former Vice-President was not a direct signatory to the procurement process but argued that his position at the time gave him significant influence over economic and administrative matters.
“Even where direct quid-pro-quo instruction cannot be proven beyond reasonable doubt in civil arbitration, the existence of unverified, off-record offshore transfers creates an untenable conflict of interest,” the statement said.
IMPI therefore called on anti-corruption agencies to strengthen safeguards around major infrastructure projects and ensure that negotiations and procurement processes remain within established statutory and ministerial frameworks.
The group also urged the authorities to examine what sanctions could legally apply if a former public official were successfully prosecuted, including any forfeiture or disqualification measures available under the relevant law.
The call comes against the background of Atiku’s response to reports on the arbitration. His representatives have argued that the ICC proceedings did not amount to a corruption conviction or finding against him, while the tribunal’s examination of the $500,000 payment formed part of its assessment of Nigeria’s allegations in the arbitration.