Sophia Michaels
Former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed that during his time in office, no minister had the power to approve more than N25 million without his consent.
Obasanjo stated this in a recent interview with TheCable.
Obasanjo in his statement wondered where the former minister of power and steel, Olu Agunloye, got the authority to award a $6 billion contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd in respect of the Mambilla Hydropower Project in 2003.
Sunrise Power is currently in arbitration with Nigeria at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Paris, France, over an alleged breach of contract by the federal government.
In the first arbitration, Sunrise demanded a compensation of $2.3 billion, claiming it had spent millions of dollars on financial and legal consultants before the contract was jettisoned.
In the second one, the company asked for a $400 million settlement being the terms of the agreement it entered with the federal government in 2020 to end the arbitration.
Obasanjo while speaking on this said, “When I was president, no minister had the power to approve more than N25 million without express presidential consent.
“It was impossible for Agunloye to commit my government to a $6 billion project without my permission and I did not give him any permission.
“If a commission of inquiry is set up today to investigate the matter, I am ready to testify. I do not even need to testify because all the records are there. I never approved it.”
