Former Nigerian power minister Liyel Imoke could not confirm whether a later Federal Executive Council (FEC) adopted minutes tied to the Mambilla contract dispute, Premium Times reported.
Imoke told the court he learned the FEC had rejected the contract by reading minutes of a May 21, 2003, meeting. He said he was not a council member at that session, having become minister in August, and that extracts were circulated after the council was dissolved, according to Premium Times.
During cross-examination, defense lawyer Adeola Adedipe questioned whether a later council had adopted the minutes Imoke cited. Adedipe noted that the May 21 session was the final FEC meeting of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s first term. Imoke described a process in which members reviewed minutes before considering decisions at a later meeting. “I don’t have knowledge of the adoption. I can’t recall,” he told the court, Premium Times reported.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said Imoke’s testimony on Oct. 19 included his review of an FEC extract in a ministry file. The commission reported that he testified the extract instructed former power and steel minister Olu Agunloye to withdraw his memo and invite additional proposals.
The EFCC alleges Agunloye disregarded a presidential directive and improperly awarded the contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited. The commission says its amended seven-count charge concerns an alleged $6 billion award and that Agunloye pleaded not guilty.
Separately, Nigeria’s State House said an International Chamber of Commerce tribunal in Paris rejected Sunrise’s claim for $680 million plus interest on Sept. 17. The State House described it as connected to another arbitration in which Sunrise was seeking more than $2.7 billion.
The court is scheduled to resume Imoke’s cross-examination Nov. 11, Premium Times reported.
