A witness within the ongoing trial of Olu Agunloye, former Minister of Energy and Metal, on Monday informed the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Excessive Court docket in Abuja that neither Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria nor the Federal Government Council (FEC) accredited the controversial $6 billion contract awarded to Dawn Energy and Transmission Firm Restricted for the Mambilla Hydropower Undertaking.
Testifying earlier than J.O. Onwuegbuzie (Justice), Umar Babangida, the third prosecution witness (PW3) and an investigator with the Financial and Monetary Crimes Fee (EFCC), revealed that Obasanjo made it clear, each in writing and through a gathering with investigators, that he didn’t authorize Agunloye to award the contract.
Based on a press release by Dele Oyewale, EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Babangida testified {that a} Licensed True Copy (CTC) of a letter written by Obasanjo on November 27, 2023, to the Ministry of Justice, indicated that the previous President by no means accredited the Dawn contract.
“The previous President acknowledged that he acquired a memo from Agunloye and solely minuted on it, directing him to current it to the FEC for deliberation.
“He didn’t give any approval for contract award, and no such approval was granted in the course of the FEC assembly on Might 21, 2003,” Babangida informed the court docket.
Additional testifying, the EFCC witness stated that in a February 7, 2024, assembly with investigators, Obasanjo reaffirmed his earlier place and submitted a signed assertion, reiterating that the contract awarded on Might 22, 2003, was not authorised by him or the FEC.
“Obasanjo informed the group that Agunloye was directed to withdraw his memorandum and open up the challenge for aggressive bidding.
“But, simply 24 hours after that directive, he went forward to award the contract to Dawn Energy,” Babangida stated.
Agunloye is at present dealing with a seven-count cost introduced by the EFCC over alleged fraudulent contract award and official corruption linked to the $6 billion Mambilla Energy Undertaking deal.
The EFCC investigator additionally disclosed that monetary data confirmed the previous minister acquired a number of suspicious funds from Shotire Jide Abiodun, a director in Dawn Energy and private assistant to the corporate’s proprietor, Leno Laitan Adesanya.
“We traced a number of financial institution accounts operated by the defendant and located that on August 10, 2019, he acquired ₦3.6 million from Abiodun.
“One other ₦500,000 got here in on October 22, 2019, and ₦1.1 million on November 13, 2019 – all from the identical particular person,” Babangida informed the court docket.
Beneath cross-examination led by Abba Muhammed, prosecution counsel, the witness affirmed that these transactions raised purple flags, additional connecting the previous minister to the corporate on the centre of the contract scandal.
The trial has been adjourned to June 18, 2025, for continuation.
