EFCC declares Agunloye, ex-minister, wanted over $6bn Mambilla saga

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared Olu Agunloye, former minister of power and steel, wanted over alleged corruption.

In a notice published on Wednesday, the anti-graft organisation asked members of the public with useful information about Agunloye’s whereabouts to contact the agency.

“The public is hereby notified that Olu Agunloye, whose photograph appears above is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in alleged case of Corruption and Forgery,” the notice reads.

“Olu, 75, is from Akoko North Local Government Area, Ondo State. His last known address: No 20 Sold Boneh Way, Bodija, Ibadan.”

EFCC is currently investigating Agunloye over the controversy surrounding the $6 billion Mambilla hydropower contract.

MAMBILLA HYDROPOWER CONTRACT

Agunloye was the minister of power and steel between 2002 and May 2003, under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The Mambilla hydropower contract was awarded in 2003 to Sunrise Power Ltd during the administration of Obasanjo.

The contract has been the subject of a legal dispute between Nigeria and the company.

Sunrise is in arbitration with Nigeria at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Paris, France, over an alleged breach of contract and asking for a compensation of $2.3 billion, claiming it had spent millions of dollars on financial and legal consultants before the contract was jettisoned.

Nigeria is disputing the contract because Agunloye who “suspiciously” awarded the contract a week to the end of his minister, did so “illegally”.

The contract was awarded by Sunrise a day after the federal executive council asked Agunloye to step down his memo.

This was one week to the end of his tenure as minister of power in May 2003.

The contract was terminated during the administration of former President Umaru Yar’Adua.

In an interview with TheCable, Obasanjo challenged Agunloye to tell Nigerians where he derived the authority to award a $6 billion contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd in respect of the Mambilla hydropower project in 2003.

In his response, Agunloye said the government was not obliged to pay a kobo to Sunrise under the build, operate and transfer (BOT) agreement as it was to be fully funded by the newly registered company, whose declared assets were worth less than $2,000 at the time.

In September, TheCable reported that the EFCC traced some suspicious payments made by Sunrise to Agunloye’s bank accounts.