ICC revelations: APC campaign council demands Atiku’s withdrawal from 2027 race

The All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council has called on African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race, citing revelations from an International Chamber of Commerce arbitration tribunal in Paris involving the stalled Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project in Taraba State.

APC Campaign Council spokesman Dele Alake made the call in a statement on Friday in Abuja, as reported by Daily Trust ,alleging that the arbitration proceedings had raised serious questions about Atiku’s role in the controversial contract award during his tenure as Vice President under former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

At the heart of the APC’s argument is a $500,000 payment made on January 30, 2003, by Sunrise Power and Transmission Company promoter Leno Adesanya to Jennifer Douglas — then Atiku’s wife — through an offshore company, China Castle Investments Limited, into Douglas’s Citibank account in the United States.

The APC noted the tribunal’s observation of a “close connection in time” between the payment and the alleged award of a build-operate-transfer contract to Sunrise on May 22, 2003 — less than four months later.

Alake alleged that Atiku and former Power Minister Olu Agunloye worked together to facilitate the contract despite Federal Executive Council objections, and that the disputed deal subsequently exposed Nigeria to financial claims running into hundreds of millions of dollars, including a separate claim exceeding $2.7 billion.

The APC also criticised Atiku for not appearing to testify before the arbitration tribunal while former Presidents Obasanjo and Buhari testified in proceedings concerning Nigeria’s defence.

However, the ICC tribunal ultimately rejected Sunrise’s claims against Nigeria, ordered the company and Adesanya to reimburse 75 per cent of Nigeria’s legal costs, and did not make any finding that Atiku received a bribe.

Adesanya had described the $500,000 as a foreign exchange transaction carried out on Atiku’s behalf — an explanation the tribunal found was not supported by documentary evidence.

Atiku has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with the payment and related matters.