Adesanya Rejects Links to Atiku and Dasuki in Mambilla Project

Leno Adesanya, the Chief Executive Officer of Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited, has said he has no political connections to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki.

Adesanya, who promotes the Sunrise company, stated that linking him to these politicians misrepresents his interest in the long-standing Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project dispute.

In a statement on Monday, Adesanya explained that his focus in the dispute is to see the Mambilla project completed, not to gain political favor.

He said his career has connected him with various people in different political and professional circles but insisted that these relationships do not mean he is politically aligned with them.

“I am a Yoruba man and more Tinubu than Atiku,” Adesanya said, emphasizing that he is not associated with Atiku.

Adesanya mentioned that he supports President Bola Tinubu based on their shared Yoruba heritage and his long-term relationship with the President.

He expressed a desire for the Tinubu administration to succeed and noted he has tried to resolve the Mambilla dispute peacefully.

“I wrote several times, even against the advice of my lawyers, to settle amicably towards the development of the project,” Adesanya said.

He described efforts to connect him with Atiku and Dasuki as the work of “mischief-doers and political detractors.” He believes that his relationships across political lines should not be twisted to create a false narrative about his role in the project.

“Some of the dates of association have no significant relevance to the Mambilla hydro project,” Adesanya claimed.

His statement comes after PREMIUM TIMES reported on the Final Award by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris on 17 September. This report revealed that Adesanya paid $500,000 to Jennifer Douglas Abubakar, the then-wife of Atiku Abubakar.

Sunrise and Adesanya said the payment was a foreign-exchange transaction done by him for Atiku.

But the Tribunal found no proof that Atiku used his official position to help award the contract. They also rejected Adesanya’s claim that the $500,000 was a legitimate foreign-exchange transaction.

The ICC tribunal also questioned a $1.74 million payment made by Adesanya to Abubakar Dasuki, one of the sons of Sambo Dasuki, in December 2014 related to the ongoing Mambilla dispute.

The tribunal noted that these transactions raised serious concerns that were not cleared up by other evidence.

In 2021, this newspaper investigated a secret offshore deal involving Dasuki’s family and Leno Adesanya. This investigation was a key part of the evidence used by the Nigerian government during arbitration at the ICC.

The Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project has faced many contractual, financial, and legal issues for years.

In 2003, then Minister of Power and Steel Olu Agunloye gave Sunrise Power a build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract to create a 3,050MW plant, estimated to cost around $6 billion.

The deal required Sunrise to fund and develop the project and recover its costs through long-term electricity sales.

The legality of the 2003 contract later became a central issue in the dispute. In 2025, an EFCC investigator testified that former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Federal Executive Council had not approved the contract, and Agunloye awarded it on 22 May 2003. Agunloye has pleaded not guilty to related criminal charges.

Sunrise began ICC arbitration against Nigeria in October 2017, seeking about $2.354 billion for an alleged breach of the agreement.

A later settlement provided for a $200 million payment, while Sunrise sought a separate claim of $400 million that grew to about $680 million with interest.

On 17 September, the ICC tribunal dismissed Sunrise’s claims.

The tribunal ruled that Sunrise cannot enforce the $400 million settlement against Nigeria because the agreements lacked the necessary presidential approval and were found to be linked to corruption.

In response to the ruling, Mr Tinubu said it removed what he called the “single biggest legal hurdle” that has delayed the Mambilla project for years. He reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to its development.