The Third Prosecution Witness,
PW3, Umar Babangida in the trial of the former Minister of Power
and Steel Development, Olu Agunloye, on Monday, June 16, 2025,
told Justice J.O. Onwuegbuzie of the Federal Capital Territory
High Court, Apo, that former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Federal
Executive Council, FEC, did not grant any contract approval
to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited, the company
that lifted the Mambila Power Project contract.
According to the witness, “The former President,
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who presided over the FEC meeting of 23 May, 2003,
wrote to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice on 27
November, 2023 where he provided details of what happened at the FEC meeting
and confirmed that he did not give approval to the then Minister of Power and
Steel to award the contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited.
He thereafter wrote to the Federal Ministry of Justice, requesting for
the Certified True Copy, CTC of the letter by Chief Obasanjo and
received response of the said letter.
“We reviewed the CTC of the document where the
former President stated that he received a memorandum from the
former Minister of Power, Olu Agunloye and he minuted on the document
and directed the Minister of Power and Steel to submit the memo to FEC for
deliberation, but he did not give approval to the minister for the award of the
contract and neither was approval given at FEC on 21 May, 2003.
Testifying further, he said, “In furtherance of
the response by the former President Obasanjo, on 7th
February, 2024, the investigating team met with former President
where he further informed the team that he did not give approval to the
then Minister of Power to award the contract to Sunrise Power and
Transmission Company Limited which the former President put in
writing and signed. The former President told us that he did not give
approval to the then Minister of Power and Steel, that the minister was directed
by the FEC meeting on 21 May, 2003 to withdraw his
memorandum; that the letter issued on 22 May, 2003, by the then
minister, awarding the contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission
Company Limited was not on behalf of the Federal Government
of Nigeria", he said.
The witness further informed the court that in
spite of a presidential directive to the defendant
to withdraw and nullify the Memorandum of
Understanding, MoU he has formulated with Sunrise Power and
Transmission Company Limited and open up the space for more
competitive bidding for the Mambilla Hydro-power Project, he went
ahead and yielded the contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission
Company Limited, 24 hours after the directive.
“The defendant who was the then Minister of Power
and Steel was directed to withdraw his memorandum and invite more investors for
the Mambilla Hydro Power Project but 24 hours after, on 22
May, 2003, he awarded the contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission
Company Limited without approval or authorization contrary to the directive of
the President and the Federal Executive Council, FEC,” he said.
Agunloye is facing prosecution by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a seven-count charge, bordering on
fraudulent award of the contract and official corruption to the
tune of $6billion (Six Billion Dollars).
The witness, an investigator with the EFCC,
also informed the court that his team while reviewing the
financial records of the former minister discovered that
he received money, running into millions of naira
from one Shotire Jide Abiodun of Sunrise Power
and Transmission Company Limited.
“We reviewed the financial records of the defendant,
Olu Agunloye and discovered that he operated several bank accounts. We
particularly discovered an account in Guaranty Trust Bank where on 10
August, 2019, he received the sum of N3, 600, 000 (Three
Million, Six Hundred Thousand Naira) via a transfer from the account of one
Shotire Jide Abiodun. Also, on 22 October, 2019, he
received the sum of N500, 000 (Five Hundred
Thousand Naira) from the account of the same Shotire Jide
Abiodun and on 13 November 2019, he received another payment of
N1,121,000 (One Million, One Hundred and Twenty-one Thousand Naira)
from the same Shotire Jide Abiodun", he said.
He disclosed under the guidance of
the prosecution counsel, Abba Muhammed, SAN that Abiodun is a
personal assistant to Leno Laitan Adesanya and a director in
Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited, owned by Adesanya.
The court adjourned till June 18, 2025, for
continuation of trial.
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