A prosecution witness told an Abuja court that there is no record showing Chinese financial agencies were parties to the Mambilla Hydropower Project MoU in the ongoing trial of ex-minister Olu Agunloye
$6 bn Mambilla Power Project: Witness Says No Evidence Chinese Agencies Signed MoU in Agunloye Trial
The trial over the controversial $6 billion Mambilla Hydropower Project took a fresh turn on Monday, January 19, 2026, as a prosecution witness told the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, that there is no record linking Chinese financial agencies to the project’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Testifying as the third prosecution witness (PW3) before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie, Umar Hussein Babangida said he had not come across any document showing that China’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC), MOFTEC Limited, or the China Export-Import Bank were parties to the MoU executed for the ambitious hydropower project.
Babangida appeared in the ongoing trial of a former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, who is facing an amended seven-count charge bordering on alleged official corruption and the purported fraudulent award of the Mambilla Power Project contract.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel Adeola Adedipe, SAN, Babangida was referred to Annexure 2 of Exhibit EFCC 3D. He maintained firmly that the document contained no evidence that MOFTEC or the China Exim Bank were signatories or recognised parties to the agreement.
“I have not seen any document to show that MOFTEC, MOFTEC Limited or the China Export-Import Bank were parties to the MoU,” the witness told the court.
Babangida further explained that the recommendations leading to the project’s approval centred on government participation not exceeding 25 per cent, a key issue deliberated at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting of May 21, 2003.
According to him, while Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited proposed a 35 per cent government stake, Tafag Nigeria Limited recommended 25 per cent.
“The then President directed that government participation should not be more than 25 per cent for both companies, and that 25 per cent became a subject for deliberation at the FEC meeting,” Babangida testified.
The witness also confirmed that when the MoU was eventually presented before the FEC, members of the council supported the memorandum, noting that ₦6 billion had already been earmarked for the project’s take-off at the time.
Reading from the presidential comments attached to the MoU, Babangida quoted the then President as saying:
“Minister: approved. Please give the two the same parameters, i.e., Federal Government participation not more than 25 per cent. Tariff not higher than the prevailing tariff of thermal plants.”
Following the testimony, Justice Onwuegbuzie adjourned the matter to Wednesday, January 21, 2026, for the continuation of cross-examination.
The case remains one of Nigeria’s most closely watched trials, given the scale of the Mambilla project and its long-standing place in the country’s power sector history.
