Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited and its promoter, Leno Adesanya, have lost their long-running arbitration dispute with the Federal Government of Nigeria over the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, after an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) tribunal in Paris rejected the company’s $2.35 billion claim.
The tribunal, in an award issued on September 17, 2026, also rejected Sunrise’s separate demand for $400 million arising from a proposed 2020 settlement and ordered the company and Adesanya to reimburse Nigeria 75 per cent of its legal fees and expenses, amounting to $11.82 million.
Garba Shehu, ex-spokesperson to late President Muhammad Buhari gave his account of events that led to the positive judgement in an oped on Saturday. He said the ruling represents a major development in the more than two-decade dispute that has contributed to delays surrounding the proposed 3,960-megawatt Mambilla project in Taraba State.
The case arose from events in 2003, when then Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, wrote to Sunrise indicating that the company had received approval to participate in the development of the project, despite the Federal Executive Council having declined to approve the proposal a day earlier.
According to Nigeria’s case before the tribunal, the FEC meeting of May 21, 2003, had considered a memorandum seeking approval for the project but directed that it be withdrawn, stressing that new power plants should be developed through a competitive process. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo later testified that his administration had not authorised the contract.
According to Shehu, the following year, a new minister wrote to Sunrise confirming that there was no government-approved contract. A subsequent tender process eventually produced Chinese companies CGGC and CGC as contractors for the project.
How the dispute escalated
Sunrise subsequently demanded £33 million for alleged expenses incurred in preparing for the project and $1.2 billion, representing what it described as projected profit from the proposed $6 billion project.
The company also commenced litigation at the Federal High Court, seeking to stop further development of Mambilla except through Sunrise or, alternatively, demanding $960 million in damages.
The dispute contributed to the project’s prolonged delay, with financing from China Exim Bank reportedly held back pending resolution of the legal issues.
Settlement negotiations continued across successive administrations. In 2012, the Federal Ministry of Power entered into a General Project Execution Agreement with Sunrise and Sinohydro. In 2015, another letter purportedly recognised Sunrise as the project’s local-content partner.
Further negotiations took place in 2019, eventually producing a proposed $200 million full-and-final settlement, subject to presidential approval.
However, when the agreement and an addendum were presented to President Muhammadu Buhari in March 2020, he declined to approve them. In a handwritten note dated April 20, 2020, Buhari stated that the Federal Government did not have the $200 million required for the settlement.
Sunrise subsequently commenced another arbitration, seeking $680 million in relation to the settlement dispute, while maintaining a broader claim exceeding $2.7 billion.
Former presidents testify
The Paris proceedings featured testimony from former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, as well as former ministers Babatunde Fashola and Suleiman Adamu.
The Nigerian defence team argued that the original Mambilla arrangement had never received the required presidential or FEC approval and challenged Sunrise’s claims concerning subsequent agreements.
The January 2025 hearings also attracted attention after key witnesses listed by Sunrise failed to appear, while Nigeria’s witnesses testified before the tribunal.
The tribunal’s final award went beyond dismissing Sunrise’s claims. It held that Adesanya was personally bound by the arbitration agreement and that it had jurisdiction over Nigeria’s counterclaims against him and Sunrise.
It ordered Sunrise and Adesanya to reimburse Nigeria $11,819,506.51, representing 75 per cent of the country’s legal fees and expenses. Of that amount, $2.5 million is to come from funds held in escrow by the ICC, while the remaining $9.32 million is payable by Sunrise and Adesanya, with interest accruing at 10 per cent annually until payment.
The tribunal also allocated 75 per cent of the arbitration costs to Sunrise and Adesanya.
Allegations of payments
A significant part of the proceedings concerned allegations by Nigeria regarding payments made by Adesanya or entities linked to him to individuals connected to the Mambilla negotiations.
According to the tribunal’s findings as reported by THISDAY, these included an alleged $500,000 payment to the wife of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in 2003, about N5.2 million allegedly paid to former Power Minister Olu Agunloye in 2019, and approximately $50,000 allegedly paid to former Solicitor-General Abdullahi Yola.
The tribunal also considered payments involving a company associated with the son of former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Dere Awosika.
Nigeria had argued that some of these transactions constituted evidence of bribery, concealment and conspiracy in connection with the Mambilla project. The tribunal’s award contained findings concerning the alleged dealings and rejected Sunrise’s claims against Nigeria.
These are tribunal findings and allegations presented during the arbitration, rather than criminal convictions against every individual mentioned.
Tinubu welcomes ruling
President Bola Tinubu described the ICC decision as clearing the “single biggest legal hurdle” that had paralysed the Mambilla project for years.
He commended Obasanjo and the late Buhari for their roles in defending Nigeria’s position, alongside Fagbemi, the Federal Ministry of Justice and members of the country’s legal team.
The President also said Nigeria remained committed to genuine investors and to honouring its legal obligations, while pledging to defend the country’s interests against what he described as opportunistic claims.
For his part, Adesanya said Sunrise was reviewing the tribunal’s award with its lawyers and would consider all lawful options available to it. He said it was premature to make extensive comments until that review was completed.
The ICC ruling therefore brings a major chapter of the Mambilla dispute to a close, although Sunrise’s stated intention to review the award means further legal developments may follow.
Shehu, in the statement said the immediate challenge for the Federal Government is now to translate the removal of the arbitration obstacle into progress on the long-delayed Mambilla project and its proposed 3,960MW generation capacity.