Former Minister of Power and Steel, Dr. Olu Agunloye, has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of deliberately distorting the truth about the controversial Mambilla power project to obscure his own role in the saga. Agunloye, who served in Obasanjo’s administration from 2002 to 2003, is at the center of a legal and arbitration dispute over a Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) contract he awarded to Sunrise Power Company in 2003.
Now the National Secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Agunloye faces a seven-count charge brought by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) at the FCT High Court. The case revolves around the Mambilla power project, a critical infrastructure initiative stalled by decades of disputes. Recent speculations about Agunloye testifying at the International Arbitration Court of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris have fueled public discourse, but Agunloye dismissed such rumors in a statement.
“I have no plans for Paris. Nigeria is not at arbitration because of me or the 2003 BOT contract I awarded. The government seeks to use me as a scapegoat to portray systemic corruption to the arbitration panel and undermine Sunrise’s claims,” Agunloye declared.
Agunloye accused Obasanjo of fabricating narratives to shift attention away from his own involvement in the project. He claimed that personal conflicts between Obasanjo and two associates—former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Leno Adesanya, owner of Sunrise Power Company—are at the root of the project’s controversies. According to Agunloye, Obasanjo feigned ignorance of the BOT contract while in office and later twisted facts to suit his public and legal positions.
Agunloye emphasized that the arbitration in Paris is the result of actions taken by successive administrations, particularly under President Muhammadu Buhari. In 2017, then-Minister of Power Babatunde Fashola disregarded a 2012 agreement signed under President Goodluck Jonathan with Sunrise Power Company and re-awarded the contract to another firm. Despite advice from the Chinese government to resolve the dispute amicably, the FGN failed to honor two settlement agreements, prompting Sunrise to return to arbitration.
“The arbitration is a consequence of mishandled negotiations and poor governance decisions by the FGN. Instead of addressing its missteps, the government is deploying a criminalization strategy to bolster its position in Paris,” Agunloye said.
Agunloye accused the government of fabricating corruption charges and evidence to undermine him and other individuals connected to the project. He pointed out attempts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to retroactively link him to bribery allegations, which he claims witnesses failed to substantiate in court.
“The government is spreading misinformation and using me as a pawn to divert attention from the actions of its own officials and four former presidents who mishandled the project over two decades,” Agunloye asserted.
He further criticized the FGN for prematurely branding him as corrupt, a move he argued weakens Nigeria’s credibility in arbitration. “It’s ironic that the same government fighting to win arbitration is portraying its governance as corrupt and dysfunctional by criminalizing officials linked to the project,” he added.
Meanwhile, former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari are expected to testify at the arbitration in Paris. Agunloye remarked on the potential irony of the two leaders undermining their own administrations in an effort to salvage Nigeria’s case.
“The testimonies of Obasanjo and Buhari could inadvertently highlight the governance failures and contradictions that have plagued the Mambilla project for decades,” he said.
Agunloye called on the government to focus on transparency and genuine reform rather than scapegoating individuals for systemic failures. He reiterated that the Mambilla power project, once envisioned as a transformative energy initiative, has been mired in controversy and mismanagement for over two decades.
“The Mambilla project should be a symbol of national progress, not a case study in governance dysfunction,” Agunloye concluded, urging the FGN to chart a new path toward resolution and execution of the critical infrastructure project.
