FG Wins Nine-Year, $3.38bn Arbitration Battle Over Mambilla Power Project

The Federal Government has won a nearly nine-year international arbitration battle against Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited over the long-delayed 1,500MW Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, defeating claims that put Nigeria’s potential exposure at more than $3.38bn. President Bola Tinubu confirmed the victory in a State House statement on Thursday, saying an ICC International Arbitration Tribunal in Paris issued a final award on September 17, 2026, dismissing Sunrise’s claims for a declaration that Nigeria breached a settlement agreement and its request for $400m in settlement and default payments.

The dispute dates back to October 10, 2017, when Sunrise commenced arbitration alleging breach of a 2003 agreement to build a 3,050MW hydroelectric plant in Taraba State, later rescoped to about 1,500MW to make it financially viable. The tribunal held that Sunrise promoter Leno Adesanya was bound by the arbitration agreement and ordered Sunrise and Adesanya to reimburse Nigeria for 75 per cent of its $11.82m legal fees, alongside 75 per cent of $1.66m in arbitration costs, with interest at 10 per cent annually until fully paid.

Tinubu described the ruling as clearing “the single biggest legal hurdle” that had paralysed the project, commending Attorney-General Lateef Fagbemi and Nigeria’s legal team led by Elizabeth Oger-Gross and Tolu Obamuroh of Paul Hastings LLP. He also praised former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and the late Muhammadu Buhari for testifying in Nigeria’s defence, along with former ministers Babatunde Fashola and Suleiman Adamu, the National Security Adviser and the EFCC.

The Mambilla project has faced over two decades of delays from legal disputes, financing challenges and rescoping, with its capacity reduced from an original 3,050MW to about 1,500MW between 2021 and now. The arbitration win follows other major legal victories for Nigeria, including the 2023 UK court decision setting aside an $11bn award to Process & Industrial Developments, and comes amid separate EFCC-related proceedings in which former Power Minister Saleh Mamman was sentenced to 75 years in absentia over alleged diversion of N22bn meant for Mambilla and Zungeru power projects.