Mambilla Hydro Scandal: Atiku Unfit To Lead Nigeria After ‘$500k Bribery’ Exposed In Paris, APC Declares
ABUJA, NIGERIA — The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has launched a blistering assault on the presidential ambitions of African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate Atiku Abubakar, declaring him permanently “unfit” to lead the nation.
In a scathing press statement issued Friday by campaign spokesman Dele Alake, the ruling party called on Abubakar to immediately withdraw from the presidential race.
The demand follows explosive revelations emerging from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Arbitration Tribunal in Paris regarding the stalled 3,960mw Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.
According to the APC, tribunal hearings exposed how Abubakar and former power minister Olu Agunloye allegedly bypassed the Federal Executive Council and defied then-President Olusegun Obasanjo to sign an “illegal” Build-Operate-Transfer contract with Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Ltd in 2003.
The campaign council highlighted a critical finding by the Paris tribunal, which noted a “close connection in time” between a $500,000 payment wired to Abubakar’s then-wife, Jennifer Douglas, via an offshore account in January 2003, and the awarding of the massive power contract just months later.
The APC alleges this payment was a direct bribe that has now plunged Nigeria into a legal battle, with Sunrise Power claiming up to $2.7 billion in compensation.
“Atiku’s greed put Nigeria in serious financial peril,” Alake stated, comparing the situation to the infamous P&ID gas project scam.
He praised former President Obasanjo and President Muhammadu Buhari for traveling to Paris to defend the nation’s treasury against “predatory entities.”
The statement concluded with a stern warning to voters, particularly in Taraba State, accusing Abubakar of single-handedly stalling what should have been Nigeria’s largest hydro-power infrastructure project for personal fiduciary gain.
Atiku Abubakar’s campaign team has yet to formally respond to the latest rounds of allegations from the ruling party.
