Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged the All Progressives Congress to produce the portion of the Mambilla arbitration award where the tribunal allegedly found him guilty of receiving a bribe or manipulating the award of the power project.
Atiku, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the APC was presenting allegations examined during the arbitration as a corruption verdict against him, insisting that no such finding was contained in the tribunal’s decision.
The statement, issued on Friday, followed the controversy surrounding the International Chamber of Commerce arbitration over the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project. The tribunal rejected claims by Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited against Nigeria and ordered Sunrise and its promoter, Leno Adesanya, to reimburse 75 per cent of Nigeria’s legal costs.
A major issue examined by the tribunal was the $500,000 transferred by Adesanya through China Castle Investments Limited to Jennifer Douglas, Atiku’s former wife, in January 2003. Adesanya had described the payment as part of a foreign-exchange transaction conducted for Atiku, but the tribunal rejected the explanation because supporting documentary evidence was not produced.
Reacting, Atiku said the tribunal’s rejection of Adesanya’s explanation did not amount to a finding that he received a bribe or used his office to influence the Mambilla contract.
“I was not a member of the technical process that evaluated the competing proposals and recommended Sunrise. I did not sit on the procurement panel. I did not award the contract,” Atiku said, challenging his accusers to identify any instruction or intervention by him and the exact paragraph of the award where corrupt influence was established.
He also disputed claims that he deliberately avoided the tribunal, saying he was not a party to the arbitration and did not testify before it. Atiku said the reported record did not establish that the tribunal summoned him or ordered him to appear.
The former vice-president further argued that his membership of the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo did not make him personally responsible for every decision taken by the government. He cited his opposition to the controversial third-term bid as an example of his position on policies pursued by the administration.
Atiku also referred to the participation of Obasanjo, former President Muhammadu Buhari and former ministers Babatunde Fashola and Suleiman Adamu in Nigeria’s defence during the arbitration, saying their appearances could not be interpreted as evidence that he himself had been summoned and refused to appear.
He urged the APC to publish the specific sections of the award supporting its claims, asking it to identify where the tribunal allegedly found that he solicited or received a bribe, directed former Power Minister Olu Agunloye to award the contract to Sunrise or participated in a corrupt conspiracy.
Atiku said the controversy should instead be subjected to the actual contents of the tribunal’s award, arguing that “an allegation is not a finding” and that political claims should not be presented as judicial conclusions.
He also criticised what he described as differing standards in the treatment of political opponents, citing the 1993 United States civil forfeiture proceedings involving President Bola Tinubu.
Atiku acknowledged that the case resulted in a forfeiture order against property, rather than a criminal conviction of Tinubu for drug trafficking.
He concluded by urging Nigerians to examine the documentary record rather than campaign claims, saying the issues that should dominate the 2027 election include the economy, jobs, security and the impact of government policies.
