The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has called on the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race over allegations arising from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration concerning the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.
The call was made by the council’s spokesman, Dele Alake, in a statement following the conclusion of the arbitration in Paris over claims brought by Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited and its promoter, Leno Adesanya, against Nigeria.
The ICC tribunal rejected Sunrise’s claims against Nigeria and ordered the company and Adesanya to reimburse Nigeria for 75 per cent of its legal costs and expenses.
Alake, however, focused on the tribunal’s examination of a $500,000 payment made by Adesanya to Jennifer Douglas, Atiku’s then wife, on January 30, 2003, through China Castle Investments Limited, an offshore company controlled by Adesanya.
According to the APC spokesman, the payment raised questions about the subsequent award of a build-operate-transfer contract for the 3,960-megawatt Mambilla project to Sunrise.
The tribunal, in its final award, said the circumstances surrounding the payment raised “significant red flags”. However, it also stated that there was no evidence before it showing that Atiku actually exercised his duties as a government official in a manner that fostered the award of the contract to Sunrise.
The tribunal further said it could not accept Adesanya’s explanation that the $500,000 was a bona fide foreign-exchange transaction because there was insufficient supporting evidence, but stopped short of finding that Atiku received a bribe or personally influenced the contract award.
Alake nevertheless accused Atiku of compromising Nigeria’s interests for personal gain and alleged that he worked with former Minister of Power, Olu Agunloye, to facilitate the Sunrise contract despite objections by then-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He also linked the development to the stalled Mambilla project, arguing that the controversy surrounding the contract had exposed Nigeria to substantial financial claims.
The APC campaign spokesman cited an alleged $680 million claim by Sunrise and a separate claim of more than $2.7 billion connected with disputes over the Mambilla project. The tribunal ultimately rejected the claims against Nigeria.
Alake also referred to the 2010 United States Senate investigation into offshore transactions involving Atiku and Jennifer Douglas, as well as criticisms of Atiku contained in Obasanjo’s memoir, My Watch.
He described the Mambilla controversy as further evidence, in the APC’s view, of concerns about Atiku’s record and called on him to withdraw from the presidential contest.
Meanwhile, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President (Information and Strategy), also criticised Atiku’s response to the Mambilla controversy.
Onanuga said Atiku’s explanation amounted to an attempt to obscure the significance of the tribunal’s findings, insisting that the relationship between the $500,000 payment and the Mambilla contract required scrutiny.
Atiku has rejected the APC’s interpretation of the arbitration proceedings. His spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, said the tribunal did not indict Atiku for corruption, receive a bribe or establish that he influenced the award of the Mambilla contract.
The controversy followed the ICC tribunal’s September 17, 2026 decision rejecting Sunrise’s claims against Nigeria in the long-running dispute over the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.
