A witness in the trial of Nigeria’s former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, has told a federal court in Abuja that there is no record showing that Chinese financial institutions were parties to the agreement for the Mambila Hydropower Project.
Umar Hussein Babangida, the third prosecution witness, gave the testimony on Monday during proceedings before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie at the Federal High Court.
Mr Agunloye is facing an amended seven-count charge relating to alleged corruption and the fraudulent award of the $6bn Mambila Power Project contract.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel Adeola Adedipe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Babangida said documents before the court did not indicate that China’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC), MOFTEC Limited or the China Export-Import Bank were signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the project.
Referring to Annexure 2 of an exhibit tendered by the prosecution, the witness maintained that there was “no record” confirming the involvement of the Chinese agencies in the MoU.
Mr Babangida also told the court that government participation in the project was a key issue considered by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in May 2003. He said Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited proposed a 35% government stake, while Tafag Nigeria Limited proposed 25%.
According to him, the then president directed that federal government participation should not exceed 25% in either proposal, a position that was subsequently discussed at the FEC meeting of 21 May 2003.
The witness further confirmed that when the MoU was presented to the council, it received the support of FEC members.
He added that ₦6bn had already been allocated for the initial take-off of the project at the time.
Reading from the former president’s comments on the MoU, Mr Babangida quoted: “Minister: approved. Please give the two same parameters, i.e. Federal Government participation not more than 25%. Tariff not higher than prevailing tariff of thermal plant.”
Justice Onwuegbuzie adjourned the case until Wednesday, 21 January 2026, for the continuation of cross-examination.
About The Author
