By Ebenezer Mabinuola
A prosecution witness in the trial of former Minister of Power and Steel Development, Dr. Olu Agunloye, has told a Federal Capital Territory High Court that the controversial $6 billion Mambilla Power Project contract was never approved by former President Olusegun Obasanjo or the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
Testifying before Justice J.O. Onwuegbuzie in Abuja on Monday, June 16, 2025, Umar Babangida, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said Obasanjo had denied ever authorizing the deal. Babangida, the third prosecution witness, said Obasanjo made this clear in a certified letter dated November 27, 2023, and during an in-person meeting with EFCC operatives on February 7, 2024.
According to Babangida, Obasanjo’s letter to the Attorney General of the Federation clarified that he only directed Agunloye to present the Mambilla project memorandum to FEC for discussion—not for contract execution. “In the certified letter, Obasanjo confirmed he did not grant approval to award the contract and that no such approval was issued during the FEC meeting of May 21, 2003,” Babangida told the court.
Despite this instruction, Babangida said Agunloye went ahead and issued a letter awarding the contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited on May 22, 2003—just 24 hours after the FEC meeting.
Agunloye is currently facing a seven-count charge brought by the EFCC, including allegations of official corruption and fraudulent contract award. The charges relate to the unilateral award of the Mambilla hydropower contract and suspicious financial transactions allegedly linked to the deal.
Babangida further testified that the EFCC traced several payments to Agunloye’s personal Guaranty Trust Bank account, made by Shotire Jide Abiodun—a director at Sunrise Power and personal assistant to the company’s owner, Leno Laitan Adesanya. These included ₦3.6 million paid on August 10, 2019; ₦500,000 on October 22, 2019; and ₦1.121 million on November 13, 2019.
Lead prosecutor, Abba Muhammed (SAN), suggested these payments may have been kickbacks for Agunloye’s role in awarding the illegal contract.
The trial has been adjourned until June 18, 2025, for further hearing.
