The Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, has stated that Nigeria will not be a soft target for predatory litigation and arbitration. He made this statement in Abuja while reacting to Nigeria's victory in the International Arbitration instituted by Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited and its principal, Leno Adesanya. The case concerned the 3,050 megawatt Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, one of Nigeria's largest and most strategically important infrastructure projects.
The International Chamber of Commerce Tribunal in Paris, France, delivered the decision on 17 September, giving a landmark victory to Nigeria against Sunrise. The arbitration concerned the Mambilla Project, which has been held hostage by Sunrise's relentless litigation and arbitration against Nigeria for over two decades. The project has been unable to achieve financial close, depriving Nigeria and its people of the enormous economic benefits of 3,050 megawatts of clean, renewable hydroelectric power.
The cost of this delay measured in lost power generation, foregone industrial output, and continued energy poverty, is incalculable, according to Fagbemi. The Attorney-General noted that the tribunal found that the settlement agreement and its addendum were not binding on Nigeria because the former Nigerian ministers who signed them lacked the requisite authority to commit and bind the federal government without presidential approval.
The tribunal also found that Adesanya had engaged in a decades-long campaign of bribery and corruption often involving very large payments to several senior Nigerian government officials connected to the Mambilla Project. The corrupt scheme, orchestrated by Adesanya, extended to the settlement agreements with the tribunal specifically finding that a corrupt deal was in fact reached between Adesanya and the erstwhile senior Nigerian officials who signed the settlement agreement.
The tribunal noted that Mr Adesanya's pattern of corrupt dealings extended back to the very origins of the Mambilla dispute. This pattern forms what the tribunal described as an established modus operandi of engaging with influential Nigerian government officials through financial incentives. Consequently, Sunrise and Adesanya were ordered to bear the overwhelming majority of costs of 75 per cent of Nigeria's legal fees and expenses, plus interest at 10 per cent per annum compounded annually.
The tribunal expressed the hope that this would deter Adesanya and his companies from bringing further frivolous legal proceedings against Nigeria. Fagbemi said the verdict was a complete and resounding vindication of Nigeria's position that Sunrise's entire claim should be totally rejected. He emphasized that Nigeria will not be a soft target for predatory litigation and arbitration.
In the arbitration, Sunrise demanded $400 million and interest at ten per cent per annum compounded daily in addition to its pending claim of over $2.7 billion in a separate, parallel arbitration. The Attorney-General's statement is a reassuring message to investors and the international community that Nigeria is committed to upholding the rule of law and protecting its interests.
Key points
- The International Chamber of Commerce Tribunal in Paris, France, delivered a landmark victory to Nigeria against Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited.
- The tribunal found that Adesanya had engaged in a decades-long campaign of bribery and corruption against Nigerian government officials.
- Nigeria will not be a soft target for predatory litigation and arbitration, according to Attorney-General Lateef Fagbemi.
