Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has clarified that during his tenure as the leader of the country from 1999 to 2007, no member of his cabinet possessed the authority to approve expenditures exceeding N25 million without his explicit consent.
In an exclusive interview with TheCable, questions were raised concerning the granting of a $6 billion contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd for the Mambilla Hydropower Project in 2003, particularly directed at Olu Agunloye, the former minister of power and steel.
Currently, Sunrise Power and Nigeria find themselves embroiled in arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, France. This arbitration centers around alleged contract violations by the federal government, with Sunrise Power claiming significant expenditures on financial and legal experts before the contract was invalidated, leading to a claim of $2.3 billion in damages during the first arbitration.
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The 2020 agreement reached with the federal government to halt arbitration saw Sunrise Power requesting a $400 million payment in a second arbitration.
In response to these developments, Obasanjo asserted in an interview with TheCable over the weekend that “no minister had the authority to authorize more than N25 million without direct presidential authorization when I was president.
“It was impossible for Agunloye to commit my government to a $6 billion project without my permission, and I did not give him any permission.”
The former president emphasized his readiness to provide testimony if a commission of inquiry were established to investigate the matter. He noted that, given the existence of comprehensive records, such testimony might not even be necessary, firmly asserting, “I never gave my approval.”