By Seun Ibiyemi
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has called on the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race following revelations surrounding a $500,000 payment made to his former wife during negotiations over the disputed Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.
The demand was contained in a statement issued on Friday by Dele Alake, spokesman for the APC Presidential Campaign Council, following the conclusion of proceedings before an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration tribunal in Paris.
The arbitration involved Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited, its promoter Leno Adesanya and the Federal Government of Nigeria over claims arising from the stalled 3,960-megawatt Mambilla power project in Taraba State.
The tribunal rejected Sunrise’s claims against Nigeria and ordered the company and Adesanya to reimburse Nigeria for 75 per cent of its legal fees and expenses incurred in the proceedings.
At the centre of the latest controversy is a $500,000 payment transferred by Adesanya on January 30, 2003, through China Castle Investments Limited to the Citibank account of Jennifer Douglas, who was then married to Atiku.
According to the tribunal’s findings, Adesanya described the payment as a foreign-exchange transaction carried out for Atiku.
However, the panel said the explanation was not supported by contemporaneous documentation, including evidence of the underlying naira payment, exchange rate, instructions or commercial purpose of the transaction.
The tribunal also noted the timing of the payment, which occurred about two weeks after Sunrise presented its tender for the Mambilla project and less than four months before the company was purportedly awarded a Build-Operate-Transfer contract.
The panel found that Atiku had considerable political influence in the Federal Government during the period and had been directly involved in discussions concerning the Mambilla project.
However, the tribunal did not make a finding that Atiku personally received a bribe or that he directly used his office to secure the contract. It also noted that neither Atiku nor Douglas testified in the arbitration.
The APC Campaign Council nevertheless accused the former vice-president of compromising Nigeria’s interests for personal financial gain and linked the controversy to the long-running dispute over the Mambilla project.
Alake alleged that Atiku and former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, worked together in the purported award of the contract to Sunrise despite objections attributed to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
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The APC spokesperson further argued that the disputed contract exposed Nigeria to substantial financial claims, with Sunrise having pursued billions of dollars in arbitration proceedings connected to the Mambilla project.
The latest ICC ruling, however, went in favour of Nigeria, with the tribunal dismissing Sunrise’s claims and ordering the company and Adesanya to bear most of Nigeria’s recoverable legal costs.
Alake also referenced a longstanding political dispute between Atiku and Obasanjo, citing comments made by the former president in his memoir, My Watch, in which Obasanjo criticised Atiku’s conduct while they served together.
The APC campaign council urged Atiku to withdraw from the 2027 presidential contest, arguing that the developments surrounding the Mambilla project raised questions about his suitability to seek the presidency.
The allegations come as Atiku prepares to contest the 2027 presidential election under the ADC platform. Reports indicate that he is expected to address the controversy at a press conference in Abuja.
