$6bn Mambilla Fraud: Agunloye Forged Contract, Witness Tells Court

A senior investigator on Monday testified that former Minister of Power and Steel, Dr. Olu Agunloye, personally forged the May 22, 2003 contract award letter for the controversial $6 billion Mambilla Hydropower Project.Umar Hussein Banbangida, the third prosecution witness (PW3) in the high-profile corruption trial, told Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal High Court, Abuja, that the document awarding the multi-billion-dollar contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited (SPTCL) was a “false representation of itself.”“The award document was a false representation of itself... It contains false information and misrepresentation of facts,” Banbangida stated under cross-examination by Agunloye’s lead counsel, Adeola Adedipe, SAN.The witness, who authored the investigation report earlier admitted as evidence, confirmed that Agunloye awarded the contract on May 22, 2003, just one day after a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on May 21, 2003, where no such approval was granted.Banbangida told the court that 40 ministers, including the defendant, attended the May 21 FEC meeting. He revealed that he interviewed former Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Kanu Agabi SAN, and former President Olusegun Obasanjo as part of the probe. While no written record was made of the oral interviews, he confirmed that Obasanjo later wrote a letter to the current Attorney-General clarifying the matter.The investigator also confirmed he did not interview then-Vice President Atiku Abubakar.Agunloye is facing a seven-count amended charge of official corruption and fraudulent award of the $6 billion Mambilla Power Project contract without lawful authority.Justice Onwuegbuzie adjourned the trial to December 1, 2025, for continuation of the cross-examination of PW3.

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