THE CABLE
In an attempt to deny TheCable’s report that he testified against Nigeria in the ongoing arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Paris, France, the media team of Michael Aondoakaa, former attorney-general of the federation (AGF), has released the witness statement he submitted to the tribunal.
Rather than exonerate him, however, the statement provides the extensive detail of his submissions in support of Sunrise Power over the controversial build, operate and transfer (BOT) contract for the Mambilla hydroelectric power project.
In an interview with TheCable last year, former President Olusegun Obasanjo challenged his former minister of power, Olu Agunloye, to tell Nigerians where he derived the authority to award the $6 billion contract to Sunrise in 2003.
“When I was president, no minister had the power to approve more than N25 million without express presidential consent. It was impossible for Agunloye to commit my government to a $6 billion project without my permission and I did not give him any permission,” Obasanjo told TheCable.
Agunloye later issued a statement insisting that he had Obasanjo’s approval — although it turned out that it was a letter of comfort his principal approved to be issued to Sunrise and not an authorisation to award the contract.
It also turned out he issued the letter of award a day after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) decided to put it on hold.
‘SEEMINGLY FRAUDULENT MEMO’
On August 5, 2008, Leno Adesanya, promoter of Sunrise Power, had written to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Obasanjo’s successor, requesting that he should authorise the signing of a detailed BOT agreement with the ministry of energy (power).
He also asked that a power purchase agreement (PPA) be signed with the PHCN and a securitisation agreement be signed with the ministry of finance and ministry of energy (petroleum).
Tellingly, he requested that Yar’Adua should authorise the payment and/or financial guarantee from a “first class” Nigerian bank of 25 percent of the $6 billion provisional contract sum — even though he, Aondoakaa and Agunloye now claim Nigeria did not have any financial obligation.
Yar’Adua sent the letter to the minister of state for power on August 11, 2008 with a comment: “You may have time to look into this seemingly fraudulent memo”.
This was a year after Aondoakaa, who was AGF from July 2007 to February 2010 under Yar’Adua, had defended the controversial contract in his legal opinion to the president.
Aondoakaa, a senior lawyer, has now filed a witness statement in Paris to counter Nigeria’s claims against Sunrise.
‘I ONLY DEFENDED MYSELF’
In a statement on Wednesday, Aondoakaa described TheCable’s report as “fake news”, insisting he did not testify against Nigeria but only defended himself because of the “unfounded allegations against me in certain paragraphs 165 and 166” of the country’s statement of defence and counterclaim before the tribunal.
READ THE FULL STORY IN THE CABLE
