Energy and Power
BREAKING: I never invite ex-President Buhari to testify in Paris over $6 billion Mambilla power contract fraud – Tinubu
President Ahmed Bola Tinubu has reportedly denied inviting former President Muhammadu Buhari to testify against Nigeria in Paris regarding $6 billion Mambilla poer contract fraud.
Tinubu said, neither Buhari nor anyone was invited or forced to testify by him.
The denial was at the backdrop of reports that ex-President Muhammadu Buhari was dragged before a court in Paris, where he took the witness stand in an arbitration proceeding over a federal power contract dispute.
CAPITAL POST recalled that the Mambilla Power contract fraud was a subject of litigation in Nigeria Court which the former Minister of Power, Dr Olu Agunloye has been frequenting the court to defend himself.
But in a report published by Peoples Gazette, it quoted Buhari to have been reluctant in testifying in a Paris Court in a failed contract awarded to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company of Nigeria by the former administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.
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“Buhari was reportedly grilled for hours on Saturday and would continue his testimony on Sunday before the International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration in Paris in case number 26260/SPN/AB/CPB.”
A top administration official told The Gazette that Buhari was reluctant to give testimony on the matter. Still, Attorney-General Lateef Fagbemi visited him at his residence in Daura last week to compel his appearance.
The report claims that Tinubu approved the decision to haul his predecessor before the foreign arbitration panel.
But in a statement on Saturday night, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, distanced the president from Buhari’s appearance in court.
The statement reads: “The attention of the Presidency has been drawn to some fake news on social media about an arbitration proceeding in Paris to which the Nigerian Government is a party.
“The private proceeding, which should not have been reported in the media, is entirely confidential until the international arbitrators decide.
“While respecting the confidentiality of the proceeding, we wish to state categorically that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has not forced anyone to testify for or to refrain from testifying against Nigeria.
“All the eminent Nigerians involved in Nigeria’s defence are doing so willingly and out of sheer patriotism and conviction.
“President Tinubu and the entire country are grateful to them.”
