$6billion Mambilla Fraud: Witness Tells Court How Ex-Power Minister Agunloye Forged Contract Document

The trial of former Minister of Power and Steel, Dr. Olu Agunloye, resumed on Monday before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

This was as a prosecution witness testified that the ex-minister forged the contract award letter for the controversial $6billion Mambilla Power Project.

Agunloye is standing trial on an amended seven-count charge bordering on official corruption and the fraudulent award of the Mambilla Power Project contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited (SPTCL) in 2003. 

Testifying as the third prosecution witness (PW3), investigator Umar Hussein Babangida told the court during cross-examination by defence counsel, Adeola Adedipe (SAN), that the contract letter dated May 22, 2003, already tendered as an exhibit, was not genuine. 

“I wrote the investigation report, which was earlier tendered before the court. In the course of investigation, we found out that while serving as a minister, Agunloye awarded a contract for the Mambilla project to SPTCL on May 22, 2003, and the contract letter had been tendered in court,” Babangida said. 

When asked whether the document was compared with the original, Babangida explained that the document was self-incriminating. 

“The award document was a false representation of itself; it was compared with the information contained in it. 

“It contains false information and misrepresentation of facts. I did not compare it with another document because the document itself is a certified true copy,” the witness told the court. 

Babangida also told the court that records of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting of May 21, 2003, which he obtained through a formal request, showed that 40 ministers, including Agunloye, were present at the session. 

He further revealed that he interviewed the then Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), as well as former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in the course of the investigation.

However, when Adedipe asked whether he had written reports documenting these interviews, Babangida responded that the discussions were oral. 

According to him, “There was no written report because it was an oral interview, and President Olusegun Obasanjo also wrote a letter to the current Attorney-General of the Federation.” 

He added that he did not interview former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who was also a member of the FEC at the time. 

Justice Onwuegbuzie adjourned the case to December 1, 2025, for the continuation of the cross-examination of PW3.