EFCC Sets Up Special Team to Probe Mambilla Project Transactions

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has constituted a special investigative team to examine financial transactions linked to the long-running Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project and trace properties suspected to be connected to the transactions.

The investigation follows a recent International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration ruling involving Nigeria and Sunrise Power and Transmission Company, whose promoter, Leno Adesanya, has been at the centre of the long-running dispute over the Mambilla project.

According to reports, the EFCC team is examining transactions and relationships involving several individuals named in the arbitration proceedings, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, his former wife Jennifer Douglas, former Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami, former Minister of Power and Steel Olu Agunloye, former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki and his son, Abubakar Dasuki.

One of the transactions being examined is a $500,000 payment made in January 2003 by Adesanya from the Swiss bank account of his offshore company, China Castle Investments Limited, to a United States account belonging to Jennifer Douglas, who was Atiku’s wife at the time.

Adesanya told the arbitration tribunal that the payment was connected to a foreign-exchange transaction carried out for Atiku through his bureau de change business.

However, the tribunal said the explanation was not supported by documentary evidence. It noted that Adesanya did not provide records showing the underlying naira payment, exchange rate, instructions from Atiku or his aides, or documents establishing the commercial purpose of the transaction.

The tribunal described the circumstances surrounding the payment as raising “significant red flags.” However, it also stated that there was no evidence before it that Atiku actually exercised his government duties in a manner that secured the Mambilla contract for Sunrise.

Investigators are also reviewing a $1.74 million payment made in December 2014 by Adesanya to Abubakar Dasuki, the son of former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki.

During the arbitration proceedings, Adesanya described the transaction as a loan. The tribunal questioned that explanation, pointing to the absence of a loan agreement and other documentation establishing the terms and accounting treatment of the payment.

The transaction was therefore flagged for further scrutiny as part of the broader examination of financial dealings surrounding the Mambilla project.

Beyond the individual transactions, the EFCC’s special team is expected to trace properties and other assets suspected to be connected to the financial dealings under investigation.

The commission’s move follows an ICC arbitration ruling that rejected major claims brought by Sunrise Power against Nigeria. The tribunal also ordered Sunrise and Adesanya to reimburse Nigeria approximately $11.8 million in legal costs. The EFCC investigation is ongoing, and the transactions being reviewed remain allegations or matters under investigation rather than criminal convictions.