The trial of former Minister of Power and Steel, Dr. Olu Agunloye, continued on Thursday before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Apo, with a prosecution witness testifying that the defendant disregarded a directive of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in awarding the Mambilla Power Project contract.
Testifying as the third prosecution witness (PW3), Umar Hussein Babangida told the court that Agunloye violated the resolution of the FEC meeting held on May 21, 2003, by awarding a $6 billion contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited.
According to Babangida, the FEC meeting, presided over by then-President Olusegun Obasanjo, had expressly directed Agunloye not to award the contract to the company. “Despite the resolution, the defendant proceeded to award the contract in clear disregard of the President’s directive,” he stated under cross-examination by defence counsel, Adeola Adedipe, SAN.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Agunloye on an amended seven-count charge bordering on official corruption and the fraudulent award of the Mambilla Power Project contract worth $6 billion.
One of the charges alleges that, as Minister of Power and Steel in May 2003, Agunloye “knowingly disobeyed the directive of the President” issued during the FEC meeting of May 21, 2003, by approving the award of the 3,960-megawatt Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station project to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited—an act said to contravene Section 123 of the Penal Code Law.
Agunloye has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Following Thursday’s proceedings, Justice Onwuegbuzie adjourned the case to November 3, 10, and 12, as well as December 1, 2025, for continuation of trial.
