Former Minister of Power, Dr Olu Agunloye, has asked the Attorney-General of the Federation to consider discontinuing his trial over the Mambilla power project, even as a former minister who testified against him admitted he never reported the contract he called unlawful.
At the resumed hearing at the FCT High Court on Monday, Agunloye’s counsel, Adeola Adedipe, SAN, told Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie that he had written to the Attorney-General on the strength of a September ruling by an international arbitration tribunal in Paris. He pointed to Paragraph 1107 of the tribunal’s 616-page decision, which he said specifically addresses Agunloye. The International Chamber of Commerce tribunal delivered the ruling on September 17, 2026, in the arbitration brought by Sunrise Power and Transmission Company over the Mambilla hydroelectric project.
Adedipe asked the court to allow two weeks for the Attorney-General to respond. The judge, however, chose to proceed with the prosecution’s sixth witness, former Minister of Power Liyel Imoke, who was already in court.
Led in evidence, Imoke told the court that he served as Minister of Power from 2003 to 2006. He said that on September 4, 2003, he wrote to Sunrise Power to inform the company that neither the Federal Executive Council (FEC) nor the President had approved the build-operate-transfer contract awarded by Agunloye that year.
He described the contract as “unlawful, null and void”, a conclusion he said he reached after reviewing the FEC conclusions in the Ministry of Power’s files. He also confirmed that the FEC documents had not been altered and explained how he redesigned the Mambilla project during his tenure.
Under cross-examination, however, Imoke conceded that although he considered the award unlawful, he neither reported it to any law enforcement agency nor ordered an investigation. He added that he did not bring the matter before the FEC.
The defence’s reliance on the Paris tribunal’s ruling and Imoke’s admissions formed part of the proceedings as the trial continued
The prosecution, led by Mohammed Abba, SAN, told the court it had met the requirements for presenting Imoke as its sixth witness.
The judge adjourned the case until November 2, 2026, for continuation of Imoke’s cross-examination, and fixed November 4, 9 and 11 for further trial.
