The Third Prosecution Witness, PW3, Umar Hussein Babangida in the ongoing trial of former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye on Monday, March 16, 2026 told Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal High Court, sitting in Apo, Abuja that Agunloye unilaterally reduced the equity participation of the federal government in the Mambilla Power Project from 25% to 10% without the knowledge of the President.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is prosecuting the former minister on an amended seven-count charge, bordering on official corruption and fraudulent award of Mambilla Power Project contract to the tune of $6billion (Six Billion United States Dollars) to Sunrise Power Transmission Company Limited.
The witness, an EFCC investigator, while being cross-examined by defence counsel, Adeola Adedipe, SAN, recalled that the recommendation for equity participation of the federal government was 25%, which translated to $1.5 billion, and that there was no government approval for Agunloye to reduce it to 10 per cent as he did.
Earlier during the proceedings, Justice Onwuegbuzie delivered a ruling in favour of the prosecution, permitting its witness to explain the discrepancies in exhibits EFCC 3K and exhibit EFCC 3D, which the defence had opposed at the last sitting.
Explaining the discrepancies, the witness stated that “Exhibit EFCC 3K contains paragraph 14, which is an extract of the deliberation of the FEC meeting of May 21, 2003, concerning the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Plant and Exhibit EFCC 3D, paragraph 14 is also a document of the FEC meeting of May 21, 2003. Both are the same in exact words, and there is no ambiguity in the two exhibits. Exhibit 3D shows paragraph 13,14, and 15, while 3K shows only paragraph 14, which was transmitted to the Ministry of Power by the cabinet office,” he said.
He also stated that on May 22, 2003, a member of the cabinet was invited to give a fuller picture of what transpired, which was contained in Exhibit EFCC 3N, which is a response to the questionnaire for Chief Olusegun Obasanjo by the delegation of counsel from the Attorney General of the Federation.
The witness further disclosed that the sum of N5.6 million was received by the defendant as gratification for the contract award. The money, he said, was transferred by Jide Sotinri on the instruction of his boss, Mr Leno Adesanya, in 2003. He further disclosed that Sotinri, in his extrajudicial statements, claimed that the money was for surgery, but that the bank statement showed a different entry.
The witness also mentioned that there was no Ministerial Tenders Board in 2003 when the contract was awarded, but a technical committee.
With the closing of the cross-examination of the witness by the defence, Justice Onwuegbuzie adjourned the matter till March 30, 2026, for re-examination of the witness and till April 20, 27 and 30, 2026, for continuation of the trial. #securitynewsalert.com
