2027: TDF backs call for Atiku’s withdrawal over Mambilla project
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2027: TDF backs call for Atiku’s withdrawal over Mambilla project
By Alabidun Shuaib AbdulRahman
The Democratic Front has backed the call by the Minister of Solid Minerals Development and spokesman for the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Alake, for former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race over issues arising from the disputed Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.
TDF made the call following revelations contained in the final award of an International Chamber of Commerce arbitration tribunal concerning the long-running dispute between Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited and the Federal Government of Nigeria.
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In a statement signed by its Chairman, Danjuma Muhammad, and Secretary, Wale Adedayo, the group focused on a $500,000 payment made in January 2003 by Sunrise Power promoter, Leno Adesanya, to Jennifer Douglas, Atiku’s then-wife.
According to reports of the ICC tribunal proceedings, Adesanya acknowledged transferring the money through China Castle Investments Limited to Douglas’s United States bank account.
He told the tribunal that the transaction was part of a foreign-exchange deal carried out for Atiku.
However, the tribunal said Adesanya did not provide documentary or independent witness evidence to substantiate that explanation.
It also said the circumstances surrounding the payment raised “significant red flags.”
The tribunal, however, did not find that Atiku had actually used his official position to secure the Mambilla contract for Sunrise Power.
It specifically stated that there was no evidence before it showing that Atiku had exercised his duties as a government official in a manner that fostered the award of the contract to Sunrise.
Despite that qualification, TDF said the tribunal’s findings justified renewed scrutiny of Atiku’s role in the project.
The group alleged that the payment and the subsequent handling of the Mambilla project raised questions about the former vice-president’s conduct while in office.
TDF also criticised the purported award of the Mambilla Build-Operate-Transfer contract to Sunrise Power, alleging that the company lacked the requisite experience in the construction and operation of hydroelectric projects.
It argued that the stalled project had deprived the country of the opportunity to add substantial electricity generation capacity to the national grid.
The group said the development had become relevant to the 2027 political contest and endorsed Alake’s call for Atiku to withdraw from the presidential race.
The former vice-president, however, has rejected suggestions that the ICC arbitration amounted to a corruption finding against him.
His spokesman, Phrank Shaibu, said the tribunal neither indicted nor convicted Atiku and challenged the APC to produce the portion of the award where he was found to have received a bribe or influenced the award of the Mambilla contract.
