The Presidential Campaign Council off the All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, of compromising Nigeria’s interests in the controversial Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.
The allegation was contained in a statement issued on Friday by the council’s spokesman, Dele Alake, following an international Chamber of Committee (ICC) arbitration ruling in favour of Nigeria in the long-running dispute involving Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited.
According to the APC campaign council, the arbitration proceedings raised questions over $500,000 payment made in January 2003 by Sunrise promoter, Leno Adesanya, to Jennifer Douglas, who was then Atiku’s wife.
The council alleged that the payment was connected to the award of the Mambilla contract and further claimed that Atiku and former Minister of Power Olu Agunloye,worked together to secure the contract for Sunrise despite objections attributed to the former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Federal Executive Council.
The APC council also alleged that the payment was made through China Castle Investment, an offshore company it said was controlled by Adesanya.
However, the arbitration proceedings examined the payment in the context of Adesanya’s evidence that it was part of a foreign-exchange transaction carried out for Atiku.
The campaign council further criticised Atiku over his absence from testimony before the tribunal, contrasting it with the appearances of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari as witnesses for Nigeria.
The APC campaign council said the development raises serious questions about Atiku’s role in Mambilla controversy and urged him to leave the presidential race.
The ICC tribunal, however, ruled in favour of Nigeria in the arbitration, rejecting Sunrise’s claims and ordering the company and Adesanya’ to reimburse Nigeria 75 per cent of it legal fees and expenses, bringing a major stage of long-running arbitration dispute to a close.
-9News Nigeria.
