Leno Adesanya, promoter of Sunrise Power, on Friday, September 18, told an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) tribunal that the $500,000 he transferred to Jennifer Douglas, former wife of ex-vice-president Atiku Abubakar, in January 2003 was part of a foreign-exchange transaction carried out for Atiku.
The payment was made through China Castle Investments Limited, controlled by Adesanya, about four months before Sunrise was awarded the Mambilla project.
Nigeria claimed that the payment was linked to the disputed contract, but Sunrise and Adesanya denied this.
Adesanya said the dollars sent to Douglas’s US bank account had been purchased for Atiku with naira.
However, the tribunal said Adesanya produced no documents showing the naira payment, exchange rate, instructions from Atiku or his aides, or the commercial purpose of the transaction.
Neither Atiku nor Douglas testified.
Adesanya initially said Atiku, through his lawyers, had confirmed the payment was a foreign-exchange transaction.
Under cross-examination, he said the explanation was relayed by “Dr Ndukwe”, whom he identified as Atiku’s doctor, while a later confirmation came through lawyers.
He described his belief that it originated from Atiku as his logical assumption.
The tribunal said there was no evidence confirming those contacts. It also noted that China Castle, which made the transfer, was not licensed for foreign-exchange transactions.
The tribunal noted Atiku’s involvement in Mambilla from 2001 and his leadership of a Nigerian delegation to China in 2002.
It concluded that he had considerable power and influence in government during the first half of 2003.
However, Atiku was not a party to the arbitration and was not shown to have personally directed the transfer.
The tribunal rejected Sunrise’s claims against Nigeria and ordered the company and Adesanya to reimburse 75 percent of Nigeria’s legal costs.
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