Mambilla power fraud: You’re peddling lies – Agunloye tells Obasanjo

Olu Agunloye, a former Minister of Power and Steel, has accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo peddling lies as regards the  controversial Mambilla power project.

The former minister, who served under Obasanjo between 2002 and 2003 accused him of obscuring records to cover his tracks in the Mambilla Hydroelectric plant fraud.

Agunloye is facing a seven-count charge

 brought by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court over a six-billion-dollar fraud.

He had earlier sought the intervention of the Minister of Justice, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), and other personalities in the matter.

The former minister in a statement on Friday, alleged that the government seeks to use him as a scapegoat to portray systemic corruption to the arbitration panel, adding that his challenges stem from personal conflicts between Obasanjo and two of his associates, ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Leno Adesanya, the owner of Sunrise Power Company.

According to Agunloye, Obasanjo feigned ignorance of the BOT contract during his presidency but accused the former president of distorting the facts in public and judicial settings.

“The government seeks to use me as a scapegoat to portray systemic corruption to the arbitration panel and undermine Sunrise’s claims. Challenges stem from personal conflicts between President Obasanjo and two of his associates: former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Leno Adesanya, owner of Sunrise Power Company,” the statement read.

“Obasanjo feigned ignorance of the BOT contract during his presidency and later distorted the facts in public and judicial settings.

“The arbitration in France arose from actions taken by successive administrations, particularly under President Buhari. In 2017, then-Minister of Power Babatunde Fashola bypassed a 2012 agreement signed under President Goodluck Jonathan with Sunrise and awarded the contract to another company.

“Despite advice from the Chinese government to resolve the dispute amicably, the FGN failed to honor two settlement agreements, leading Sunrise to return to arbitration.

“The government is spreading misinformation and using me as a pawn to divert attention from the actions of its own officials and four former presidents who handled the project over two decades.”