In the $2.3 billion arbitration proceedings Sunrise Power initiated against Nigeria at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Paris, France, over an alleged violation of contract by the federal government, former President Muhammadu Buhari will testify on Monday.
According to social media reports that the Nigerian government has since refuted, Buhari has already provided testimony over the contentious Mambilla hydropower project.
The former attorney-general of the federation (AGF), Michael Aondoaaka, who had previously submitted a witness testimony in favor of Sunrise, abruptly left Paris, allegedly stating that President Bola Tinubu had called him back to Nigeria.
Tinubu did not summon Aondoakaa, a presidential official told Newsline on Sunday.
In an earlier social media post, it was claimed that Tinubu coerced Buhari into testifying, which is another strategy thought to be used to support a witness intimidation claim in the tribunal.
But in January 2024, Buhari had earlier written to AGF Lateef Fagbemi to deny former AGF Abubakar Malami the power to reach a $200 million settlement with Sunrise.
Another event was the publication of an essay by a man named “Dr. Anthony Ibrahim,” who claimed to be from the “Truth and Justice Group, Camberwell Green, London, UK.” The post contained detailed information on the tribunal files, which are typically kept private according to arbitration rules.
The report was widely shared on social media, giving the impression that Nigeria was about to lose the lawsuit.
However, Newsline thorough Google search turned up no online evidence of “Dr. Anthony Ibrahim” as a commentator or “Truth and Justice Group, Camberwell Green, London, UK,” raising the possibility that it was ghostwritten as part of an interested party’s propaganda campaign.
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