Mambilla negotiations: Sunrise promoter’s $500,000 transfer to Atiku’s wife revealed in 2003 contract proceedings

Leno Adesanya, promoter of Sunrise Power and Transmission Company, has acknowledged transferring $500,000 to Jennifer Douglas, former wife of Atiku Abubakar, during negotiations for the Mambilla hydropower project.

According to TheCable, Adesanya told an International Chamber of Commerce tribunal that the January 2003 payment was a foreign-exchange transaction conducted for Atiku, not connected to the project.

However, the tribunal said he provided no documents showing the underlying naira payment, exchange rate, instructions or commercial purpose, and it rejected his explanation.

Atiku did not testify in the arbitration and was not shown to have personally directed the transfer. He has denied wrongdoing.

The tribunal dismissed Sunrise’s claims against Nigeria and ordered Sunrise and Adesanya to reimburse most of Nigeria’s legal costs.