APC campaign council asks Atiku to withdraw from 2027 race over $500,000 Mambilla payment

The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign council has asked Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), to withdraw from the 2027 race over allegations arising from the disputed Mambilla hydropower project.

In a statement issued on Friday and signed by Dele Alake, spokesperson of the APC campaign council, the ruling party accused Atiku of compromising Nigeria’s interests in connection with the project.

The APC campaign council cited proceedings before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration tribunal in Paris involving Sunrise Power, Transmission Company Limited and the federal government.

The tribunal recently ruled in favour of Nigeria in the dispute, dismissing Sunrise’s claims and ordering the company and Leno Adesanya, its promoter, to reimburse Nigeria for 75 percent of its legal costs.

Adesanya had told the tribunal that the $500,000 he transferred to Jennifer Douglas, former wife of Atiku, in January 2003, was part of a foreign-exchange transaction carried out for the former vice-president.

The payment was made on January 30, 2003, less than four months before Sunrise was purportedly awarded a build-operate-transfer contract for the Mambilla hydropower project, through China Castle Investments Limited, an offshore company controlled by Adesanya.

APC LINKS PAYMENT TO MAMBILLA NEGOTIATIONS

The campaign council said the timing of the payment raised questions because it was made during negotiations over the Mambilla project.

The council alleged that Atiku, who was vice-president at the time, and Olu Agunloye, then minister of power, worked together to facilitate the contract despite objections from former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The APC said the transaction reinforced what it described as longstanding concerns about Atiku’s conduct in public office.

“The APC Campaign calls on Abubakar Atiku to do himself a rare honour by bowing out of the presidential race,” the statement said.

The campaign council described the $500,000 payment as “just the tip of the iceberg” of what it claimed were further revelations concerning the ADC candidate.

The APC campaign council said the Mambilla controversy showed that Atiku had placed personal interests above Nigeria’s national interest.

It also accused him of enabling what it described as predatory interests seeking to profit from Nigeria’s resources.

The council further criticised Atiku’s campaign for a production subsidy on petroleum products, linking his proposal to the broader political contest ahead of the 2027 election.

It called on Nigerians, particularly residents of Taraba state, to take note of the history of the Mambilla project and its stalled development.

The APC campaign council maintained that the developments surrounding the arbitration warranted Atiku’s withdrawal from the presidential contest.

BACK STORY

The Mambilla dispute dates to 2003, when Sunrise expressed interest in developing the hydropower project under a build-operate-transfer arrangement.

Sunrise later relied on a letter issued by Agunloye on May 22, 2003, as evidence that it had been awarded the project.

Obasanjo subsequently disputed the authority of the minister to commit the federal government to the contract and said he had directed Agunloye to withdraw the proposal from the Federal Executive Council.

In an interview with TheCable in 2023, Obasanjo said he had not approved the contract and questioned how Agunloye could have committed the government to a $6 billion project without his authorisation.

Sunrise commenced arbitration against Nigeria in 2017, seeking about $2.35 billion over an alleged breach of the 2003 agreement.