An International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration tribunal has ruled that former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, together with Leno Adesanya, promoter of Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited, entered into a corrupt deal over the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.
The tribunal also concluded that Malami acted against Nigeria’s interests while handling a settlement agreement with Sunrise and was “motivated by other incentive(s).”
These findings appear in the tribunal’s 616-page final award delivered in Paris on September 16, 2026, in a dispute linked to the Mambilla project in Taraba State.
The tribunal rejected Sunrise’s claims against Nigeria. It held that the settlement agreement and its addendum were not binding on the Federal Government because they lacked the required presidential approval.
The agreements were also declared unenforceable as products of corruption that violated Nigerian public policy.
The dispute centred on a January 2020 settlement under which Nigeria was to pay Sunrise $200 million.
A March 2020 addendum split the payment into two instalments and introduced an additional $200 million default provision, potentially raising Nigeria’s exposure to $400 million plus interest.
The tribunal found that the revised terms significantly worsened Nigeria’s position without any corresponding benefit to the country.
It concluded that Malami had not negotiated the terms on Nigeria’s behalf.Evidence examined included WhatsApp exchanges between Malami and Adesanya while the two sides were opposing parties in arbitration.
Adesanya testified that Malami solicited a bribe during settlement discussions and claimed to possess audio and video recordings of the conversation, though the recordings were not produced before the tribunal.
The tribunal noted that Malami repeatedly sought former President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval for the settlement despite Buhari’s refusals.
Buhari rejected the proposal in April 2020 and again in January 2021, writing “Not approved.” Malami was also found to have given Buhari incorrect information about the financial implications of the settlement, including the potential liability created by the addendum.
Malami failed to appear before the tribunal to give evidence, leading it to place limited weight on his witness statement.
The tribunal further held that Malami and former Minister of Power Saleh Mamman lacked authority to bind the Federal Government to the settlement agreements without presidential approval.
Consequently, the tribunal dismissed Sunrise’s claim that Nigeria had breached contractual obligations and rejected its request for an order compelling payment of $400 million plus interest.
It ordered Sunrise and Adesanya to reimburse Nigeria $11.82 million in legal fees and $414,125 in arbitration costs.
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