Promoter of Sunrise Power and Transmission Limited, Leno Adesanya called President Bola Tinubu and Nigerian leaders’s attention over issues surrounding the Mambilla Hydro-Power Project and his declaration as wanted person by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
In an open letter to the President, Adesanya described the allegations against him by the EFCC as pure lies and stated that he is ready to defend himself of all the allegations.
The letter reads: ”It must be emphasized that using State law enforcement institutions in this manner will affect businesses and the economy adversely, and frighten investors and innocent individuals. When Sunrise, or any other contractor refuses to pay bribes, Nigeria cannot disown the constitutional powers and integrity of the Attorney General of the State or Federation by shamelessly saying that “Mr. President did not approve”.
“This cynical and uneducated defence is detrimental to good governance; and, in effect, will require that the FGN (Ministers) attach written Presidential approvals to all contracts and/or agreements.
“In 2000, I resolved to diversify the business activities of my flagship company, LENOIL, into the power sector, and my primary goal was the development of approximately 3960MW of hydroelectric power in Mambilla, Taraba State.
“In 2001, we established Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited (SPTC) as the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to drive this power project. In furtherance thereof, SPTC established working relationships with several Chinese State conglomerates such as North China Power Group (NCPG), China Hydroelectric companies (Sinohydro Corporation of China), and China State Construction (CSCEC)
“Sunrise arranged several meetings for the FGN, and these included meetings in Nigeria and China for then President Obasanjo and the then Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, and as a result, two Chinese Presidents visited Nigeria to discuss the Mambilla Project with the FGN.
“The construction of the Mambilla project was based strictly on a Build, Operate and Transfer structure (BOT) WITHOUT ANY FUNDS FROM THE FGN; which means that SPTC and its Chinese partners would source for the funds. To date no money has ever been paid by the FGN to Sunrise and/or Leno Adesanya in respect of the BOT contract.
“Accordingly, in 2002, then Power Minister, Dr. Agagu, initiated an international tender and bidding process, and based on the analysis of the tenders, the committee recommended the Sunrise Chinese Consortium of Sinohydro and NCPG for final negotiations; which led to President Obasanjo’s written approval in November 2002; before Dr. Olu Agunloye was appointed Power Minister.
”In April 2003, Dr. Olu Agunloye in compliance with earlier approval of November 2002, sought and obtained then President Obasanjo’s “No Objection” written Approval to award the $6billion BOT contract to Sunrise; WITHOUT ANY financial commitment from the FGN.
“In August 2005, our Chinese Consortium informed then President Obasanjo about China EximBank’s $5.5 million loan approval, and President Obasanjo instructed the FMOP to commence immediate negotiations with our consortium.
However, on May 28, 2007, FMOP signed a $1.46 billion EPC contract for the first phase of the Civil Works project with China Ghezouba Group Company (CGGC) and CGC (now called CGCOC), and which was facilitated by CGC’s payment of bribes (over $15million) to President Obasanjo’s very senior official who visited China at the time.
“This corruption was disclosed to me on July 23, 2008 by then President Umaru Musa Yar Adua in the presence of then HMSP (HAJIYA Fati Wali). President Yar Adua stated to the senior Presidency official that “the then CGC Chairman met him in Beijing and stated that You (Senior Official at the Presidency) went with them from bank to bank in China to collect over $15 million in cash”, and the senior official in question then went on his knees to beg for mercy, claiming that he was merely acting as instructed.
“With rage of annoyance, President YarAdua stated that “President Obasanjo could not even give him (Yar Adua) the honor of signing the Mambilla contract, but had to be done on the same day I was sworn in; because of money”.
He immediately summoned then HAGF Mr. Michael Aondooaka SAN and the entire directorate of the FMOP to the Presidency, and instructed them (though the HAGF) to immediately revalidate the BOT contract of Sunrise. SEE ATTACHED MINUTES OF MEETINGS.
“Despite President Buhari’s instructions in April 2016 to then HMOPWH, Babatunde Fashola SAN, and the then HAGF to respect existing agreements between the FGN and Sunrise, and despite numerous legal written advisory memoranda by then HAGF Abubakar Malami SAN to comply with the Presidential directives of President Buhari, honourable Minister Babatunde Fashola challenged Sunrise to go to court on the 30th of October 2017, a dispute that continues in other places and remains unresolved.
”Stunned by its manifest lack of any defence or justification for the unilateral cancellation and breach of its binding contractual obligations to Sunrise, and the likelihood of being found liable for breach of contract, the FGN through its various security agencies has now has resorted to attempting to criminalize and scandalize the Mambilla Power Project with the sole aim of evading the consequent legal contractual obligations of the Federal Government arising from breaches of agreements with Sunrise.
”This criminalization strategy of the FGN using institutions including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is manifest in its effort in alleging that I facilitated the payments of N3.5 million, N500, 000 and N1.12 million to Dr. Olu Agunloye late in 2019 for his medical treatment in Florida is laughable; because Dr. Agunloye left the government 21 years ago, and ceased to be a “Public Officer” since 2003.
“The first question is why does the EFCC have two rules of engagement: one for Southerners and another one for Northerners???
Otherwise, why will EFCC not treat then HAGF, Abubakar Malami (whom President Buhari reportedly recently, said he did not give approval to commit the FGN to over $620million to Sunrise) the same way Dr. Agunloye is being treated; most especially since Dr. Agunloye at the age of 76 almost died after 7 nights in EFCC’s Solitary Confinement.
” It is pertinent to state that there is no alignment between my kindness of 2019 and the BOT contract of 2003. Who waits for bribes to be paid 16 years after a contract has been awarded? Which stupid Minister will collect N15 million bribe for $6 billion (today’s rate N11 trillion) contract; definitely not a Nigerian security guard, left alone Minister.
“In the absence of any credible defence to Sunrise’s claims, the FGN through the EFCC has continued to desperately hunt down potential witnesses and to scandalize the underlying contract. In support of this objective, the EFCC has now secretly filed a Charge against SPTC (in Charge No: FCT/HC/CR/618/2023 between Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Sunrise) pending in a Court located in the remote village of Jikowyi, on the outskirts of the Federal Capital Territory and bounded by Nasarawa State.
“To-date, the said Charge has not been served on me nor Sunrise.However, to create leverage in the ongoing dispute, the FGN acting through the EFCC has now hurriedly declared me as a “wanted person”, without any justification.
“While it is on record that I relocated out of Nigeria in December 2017, and this was due to an assassination attempt in December 2017. With the President and Malami’s knowledge of the threats to my life, all our meetings with Nigerian Senators and Ministers were held outside Nigeria.
“All the settlement agreements between SPTC and the FGN were always signed by these Ministers (HAGF Abubakar Malami, and HMOP Saleh Mamman) before they were dispatched to me through the Personal Assistant to the HMOP in London or Dubai; hence their acknowledgment that my life was not safe in Nigeria.
” I am not missing and have never been missing. I have always made known my willingness to meet and work with Nigerian law enforcement officials at any location where there will be no threat to my life or person.
” Our leader, what is more fundamental in all that I have said is the need to really understand why the Mambilla project has been stalled for years. One is endemic corruption, and the most dangerous is the issue of the ethnic card. On or about the 10th of March 2020, then HAGF Malami called me on the telephone saying that he had read my draft addendum to the settlement agreement, and stated that, “Mr. Leno, the North will never allow a Yoruba man to be the local content partner for the Mambilla project”. This same message had been echoed in November 2019 by then Water Resources Minister, Suleiman Adamu, during our settlement negotiations in London. The icing on the cake of tribalism was the day when ABUBAKAR Malami SAN repeated that both Water Resources, and Finance Minister shared his views on the fact that the FGN cannot allow a Southerner to execute the project.
“On the issue of EFCC’s invitation to me for an interview, then Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa had agreed with myself and Chief Femi FALANA SAN separately in May 2023, and previously on numerous occasions prior to that year, that the EFCC will meet me in London or Paris for such interviews; because Malami had expressed my security concerns to him on numerous occasions.
” I am not a criminal or fugitive who is evading a trial in Nigeria, and I shall return to Nigeria after the current dispute has been resolved. The unwarranted declaration by EFCC is totally unacceptable because we have not even been personally served with any criminal charge or formerly notified of the pending charge to require my appearance or representation by Counsel. Therefore, for the gross illegality of the FGN and EFCC, further legal action is being considered by my lawyers to put a stop to this criminalization of a commercial dispute.
” If the EFCC will allow a transparent good faith inquiry, which can be televised to Nigerians, I am ready to talk to the EFCC in London or Paris via recorded or live “Zoom”, I shall disclose the names of those who attempted (while President Buhari was on medical vacation) to increase the Mambilla project cost from $5.8b to $15.8 billion.
“As a sign of good faith, if the FGN is fully determined to execute the 3050MW Mambilla hydropower project as approved by then President YarAdua, and reconfirmed severally by President Goodluck Jonathan GCFR, I am ready to mobilize my Chinese Consortium partners only if His Excellency Mr President will personally sign all the financial commitments to the Chinese Eximbank, Corporate and Financial Institutions who had demonstrated their commitments to the project in the past.
“This is the sacrifice I am willing to make, because the money is not my priority. Having said that, if our leader agrees with those of recent past that, a Yoruba man is not worthy of such a project, then Nigeria must be prepared to honor all its legal commitments (agreements) with Sunrise; and I shall retire peacefully with my beautiful children, and friends in New York and Miami.”
