The Federal High Court in Abuja took a significant step on Wednesday as it ordered the remand of Olu Agunloye, the ex-Minister of Power and Steel under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, at the Kuje Correctional Service. This action is in connection to an alleged $6 billion fraud related to the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station.
Agunloye, who served as minister between 1999 and 2003, was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice J.O. Onwuegbuzie. The charges brought against him include seven counts relating to “fraudulent award of contract and official corruption.”
During the arraignment, Agunloye pleaded not guilty to the charges presented before him. In response, the judge ordered his remand in the Kuje Correctional Service until the hearing of his bail application.
According to the EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, the charges involve the fraudulent award of the contract titled “Construction of 3,960mw Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station on a Build, Operate and Transfer Basis” to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited. The agency alleges that the contract was awarded without proper budgetary provision, approval, and cash backing, thereby violating Section 22(4) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
One of the counts also accuses Agunloye of corruptly receiving the sum of N3.6 million from Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited and Leno Adesanya in 2019. The alleged payment was for conveying the “approval of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the construction of the 3,960 megawatts Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station” in favor of SPTCL. The EFCC contends that this action occurred without the approval of the Federal Executive Council, while Agunloye served as the Minister of Power and Steel.
Agunloye’s not guilty plea prompted the prosecution counsel, Abba Muhammed, to request a trial date and the remand of the defendant in a correctional center. The defense counsel, Adola Adedipe (SAN), informed the court about the filed bail application for his client. However, Justice Onwuegbuzie scheduled the bail application hearing for January 11 and ordered Agunloye’s remand until then.
The relationship between the ex-minister and former President Obasanjo has soured, with Obasanjo expressing readiness to testify against Agunloye in any forum regarding the disputed Mambila power contract. The EFCC had declared Agunloye wanted in December 2023 for an alleged case of corruption and forgery, leading to his subsequent arrest and release to his lawyer later that month.
