At the ongoing trial of former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, over the alleged $6 billion Mambilla Power Project fraud, an EFCC witness told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) directed Agunloye to withdraw the contract award to Sunrise Power Transmission Company Limited. Umar Hussein Babangida, the third prosecuting witness, said the instruction came under former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
Under cross-examination, Babangida clarified that the FEC never asked Agunloye to reduce government equity in the project to 10 percent, but explicitly instructed him to pull back the award memo entirely. He emphasized that the FEC’s directive was clear and binding, dismissing any suggestion of partial adjustment.
The witness also addressed legal opinions from two former Attorneys General, Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, and Abubakar Malami, SAN. Both had previously advised reviving the contract award due to its legal implications, but Babangida described their letters as mere opinions without binding effect on the government’s action.
Babangida was questioned about a 2012 settlement involving the contract, the Minister of Power, and the Attorneys General, but the court overruled the line of questioning after the prosecution objected. He was further asked about laws governing privatisation in the power sector, but the prosecution described the questions as speculative and beyond the witness’s remit, citing Section 128 of the Evidence Act.
Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie adjourned proceedings to Wednesday, February 18, 2026, as the court continues to examine the roles and responsibilities in the disputed Mambilla Power Project award.