Mambilla: Adesanya denies political ties with Atiku, Dasuki - Premium Times Nigeria

Leno Adesanya, Chief Executive Officer of Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited, has denied any political ties to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki.

The Sunrise promoter said the attempts to link him to the politicians misrepresent his interest in the long-running Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project dispute.

According to a report by The Punch, Mr Adesanya made this known in a statement on Monday, adding that his involvement in the dispute was driven by his desire to see the Mambilla project completed, rather than by political patronage.

Mr Adesanya said his career had brought him into contact with individuals across different political and professional circles, stressing that such relationships should not be construed as evidence of political allegiance.

“I am a Yoruba man and more Tinubu than Atiku,” Mr Adesanya said, affirming his disconnection with Atiku.

Mr Adesanya said his support for President Bola Tinubu was based not only on their shared Yoruba background but also on his longstanding relationship with the President.

The Sunrise CEO said he wanted the Tinubu administration to succeed and had made several attempts to resolve the Mambilla dispute amicably.

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

Mr Adesanya described attempts to link him with Atiku and Mr Dasuki as the work of “mischief-doers and political detractors,” arguing that his relationships with individuals across the political divide should not be used 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,” Mr Adesanya claimed.

His intervention came amid PREMIUM TIMES’ extensive reports on the Final Award rendered by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris on 17 September, which revealed that Mr Adesanya paid $500,000 to Jennifer Douglas Abubakar, the then-wife of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

Sunrise and Mr Adesanya maintained that the payment was a foreign-exchange transaction carried out by Mr Adesanya for Atiku.

However, although the Tribunal stated that there was no evidence showing that Atiku used his official position to facilitate the contract award, it rejected Mr Adesanya’s explanation that the $500,000 was a bona fide foreign-exchange transaction.

Similarly, the ICC tribunal raised concerns over a $1.74 million payment made by Mr Adesanya to Abubakar Dasuki, one of the sons of former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki, in December 2014 in connection with the long-running Mambilla dispute.

The tribunal said both dealings between the former public officials’ relatives and Mr Adesanya contained significant red flags that were not dispelled by other evidence before it.

Meanwhile, this newspaper, in 2021, had investigated into a secret offshore arrangement involving the family of Mr Dasuki and businessman Leno Adesanya.

The investigation formed a key part of the evidence presented by the Nigerian government and its lawyers during arbitration at the ICC.

The Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project has been embroiled in contractual, financial and legal disputes for decades.

In 2003, then Minister of Power and Steel Olu Agunloye awarded Sunrise Power a build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract to develop a 3,050MW plant, estimated at about $6 billion.

The agreement required Sunrise to finance and develop the project and recover its investment through long-term electricity sales.

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

By then, Sunrise had commenced ICC arbitration against Nigeria in October 2017, seeking about $2.354 billion over an alleged breach of the agreement.

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

The tribunal ruled that Sunrise is unable to enforce the $400 million settlement against Nigeria, both because the agreements lacked the required presidential approval and because the tribunal found them to be a product of corruption.

Mr Tinubu, in his reaction, said the ruling removed what he called the “single biggest legal hurdle” that had stalled the Mambilla project for years, reaffirming the Federal Government’s commitment to its development.