- Says Tribunal Established Link Between Contract, Payment To Atiku’s Ex-Wife
- Demands Atiku’s Exit From 2027 Race
- Accuses Ex-VP For Being Among Those Responsible For Project Failure
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has launched a blistering attack on African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar following revelations contained in an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration award concerning a $500,000 payment made to his then-wife, Jennifer Douglas, in 2003.
The ICC tribunal in Paris, which ruled in Nigeria’s favour in the long-running Sunrise Power dispute over the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, examined the payment made by Sunrise promoter Leno Adesanya through China Castle Investments Limited into Douglas’s Citibank account in the United States on January 30, 2003.
In its statement signed by campaign council spokesman Dele Alake on Friday, September 18, 2026, the APC accused Atiku of compromising Nigeria’s interests for personal gain and called on him to withdraw from the 2027 presidential race.But the tribunal record presents a more nuanced picture: while it questioned and ultimately did not accept Adesanya’s explanation that the $500,000 was simply a foreign-exchange transaction for Atiku, it did not establish that Atiku personally directed the transfer or received a bribe. Atiku was not a party to the arbitration and did not testify before the tribunal.
‘Significant Red Flags’ Over $500,000 Payment
According to the arbitration record, Adesanya acknowledged transferring the $500,000 to Douglas but said the transaction represented dollars purchased for Atiku with naira.
The tribunal, however, found the explanation unsupported by documentary evidence, noting the absence of records showing the underlying naira payment, exchange rate, instructions from Atiku or his aides, correspondence relating to the transaction or documentation establishing its commercial purpose.
The tribunal also noted that the payment was routed through China Castle Investments Limited rather than Adesanya’s bureau-de-change company, Moneyline Ventures. It found that China Castle was not licensed to conduct foreign-exchange transactions and that such activity was outside its stated corporate purposes.
The payment occurred against the backdrop of negotiations over the 3,960-megawatt Mambilla project. Sunrise had presented its tender in January 2003, while the payment to Douglas was made on January 30. A technical committee subsequently recommended Sunrise for the project, while the disputed contract was later issued by then-Power and Steel Minister Olu Agunloye.
The tribunal also considered a February 2003 US diplomatic cable describing Adesanya as an “Atiku insider” and concluded that Atiku possessed considerable political influence within the Federal Government at the time.
However, the award stopped short of establishing that Atiku personally ordered the payment or directed the contract award.
APC campaign spokesman Bayo Onanuga, reacting separately to Atiku’s response, accused the ADC candidate of attempting to obscure the significance of the tribunal’s findings.
“The tribunal was very clear: there was a nexus between the $500,000 bribe that Leno Adesanya wired to Jennifer Douglas, Atiku’s wife, at Citibank in the US and the award of the illegal contract to Sunrise,” Onanuga said.
He urged Atiku’s camp to revisit the tribunal’s award rather than dismiss its findings.
The characterization of the payment as a “bribe” is the APC’s allegation; the tribunal itself found the foreign-exchange explanation unsubstantiated but did not make a finding that Atiku received a bribe.
Nigeria Wins $2.35bn Mambilla Battle
The political storm erupted after the ICC tribunal rejected Sunrise Power’s claims against Nigeria arising from the Mambilla project.
Sunrise had sought about $2.35 billion in its original arbitration, while related disputes involved substantially larger claims. The tribunal rejected the company’s claims and ordered Sunrise and Adesanya to reimburse Nigeria for 75 per cent of its legal fees and expenses, with Nigeria’s recoverable costs put at about $11.82 million.
The Federal Government hailed the ruling as a major victory in its defence of Nigeria’s interests.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said the decision had cleared a major legal obstacle that had held back the Mambilla hydropower project for years.
For the APC, however, the political fallout has now shifted towards Atiku and his role in the events surrounding the controversial 2003 project.
Alake accused the former vice-president of being associated with the disputed contract and called on him to withdraw from the 2027 presidential contest.
“The APC Campaign calls on Abubakar Atiku to do himself a rare honour by bowing out of the presidential race,” Alake said.
He also accused Atiku of being among those responsible for the failure of the Mambilla project to commence, arguing that the stalled project deprived Taraba State and Nigeria of its potential economic benefits.
The ICC proceedings, however, centred on the contractual dispute and related claims rather than determining Atiku’s political eligibility for the 2027 election.
The renewed controversy puts the long-running Mambilla dispute back at the centre of Nigeria’s 2027 political battle, with the APC using the ICC award to mount fresh attacks on its principal opposition challenger.
