Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria, said that no minister had the ability to approve any contract or project for more than $25 million when he was in charge of the nation’s affairs.
You may remember that Obasanjo served as the most populous black country’s leader twice, first as a military head of state from 1975 to 1979 and then for two terms as a democratically elected president from 1999 to 2007.
In the meantime, commenting on an ongoing legal dispute involving the $6 billion Mambilla Hydropower Project contract between the Federal Government and Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd, Obasanjo pressed Olu Agunloye, a former minister of power and steel, to reveal where he obtained the authorization to award such a contract in 2003.
Nigeria was brought to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Paris, France, by Sunrise Power for allegedly breaching a contract.
In the first arbitration, the corporation requested $2.3 billion in damages, claiming that before the Federal Government reneged, it had spent millions on financial and legal consulting.
In order to fulfill the conditions of the agreement it entered into with the federal government in 2020 to conclude the arbitration, the business subsequently requested a $400 million settlement.
In response to the weekend’s events, the former president told TheCable that “no minister had the authority to approve more than 25 million without express presidential consent” during his administration.I did not grant Agunloye any approval, and it was impossible for him to commit my government to a $6 billion project without my consent. “If a commission of inquiry is established today to look into the subject, I am prepared to testify. Due to the existence of all the documents, I am not even required to testify. I never gave my approval.
