Olusegun Obasanjo, who served as president from 1999 to 2007, has stated that no member of his cabinet had the ability to approve more than N25 million without his assent.
Obasanjo questioned former minister of power and steel Olu Agunloye in an exclusive interview with The Cable on how he came to award Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd. a $6 billion contract for the Mambilla Hydropower Project in 2003. This was a statement made by Obasanjo.
A contract dispute between Sunrise Power and the Nigerian government has resulted in arbitration proceedings being held at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, France.
In the initial arbitration, Sunrise demanded $2.3 billion in damages, claiming it had spent millions on financial and legal specialists, but they were all for naught because the contract was invalid.
The company sought a $400 million payment in the second arbitration as part of the agreement it reached with the federal government in 2020 to halt the proceedings.
In response, Obasanjo said, “No minister had the authority to authorise more than N25 million without direct presidential authorization when I was president,” in an interview published on TheCable over the weekend.
Because I did not give Agunloye approval, he could not have committed my administration to a $6 billion project.
I am ready to testify if a commission of inquiry is created today to look into the topic,” the ex-president stated. I don’t have to testify because there are already records available. My blessing was never given.
Adigunlisky (
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