By Tekena Amieyeofori
An arbitral tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce, ICC, sitting in Paris has decided in favour of Nigeria, throwing out claims valued at about $3.38 billion filed by Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited over the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project in Taraba State.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the victory in a statement on Thursday, September 17, 2026, after the tribunal delivered its award.
The amount in contention included a $680 million claim for settlement sum plus interest and another claim of over $2.7 billion as compensation and interest arising from disagreements over the Mambilla project.
Together, the two claims would have cost Nigeria more than $3.38 billion.
Tinubu said the judgment affirms his administration’s resolve to resist claims considered injurious to national interest, while stressing that Nigeria will continue to honour lawful obligations and work with genuine investors.
“The company had made a claim against the Federal Republic of Nigeria, demanding $680 million as a settlement sum and interest in respect of another arbitration in which it is claiming over $2.7 billion in compensation and interest relating to disputes associated with the development of the 3960mw Mambila Hydroelectric Power Project, located in Taraba State.”
Tinubu Hails Legal Team, Obasanjo, Buhari
The President commended Nigeria’s defence team, including the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, the Federal Ministry of Justice, and external counsel Elizabeth Oger-Gross and Tolu Obamuroh of Paul Hastings LLP.
He also thanked former President Olusegun Obasanjo and late former President Muhammadu Buhari who testified at the arbitration, as well as former Power Ministers Babatunde Fashola and Suleiman Adamu, and other witnesses and experts who contributed to Nigeria’s case.
Background To Mambilla Dispute
The Mambilla Hydropower Project has suffered decades of delays occasioned by contractual, funding and legal tussles.
In 2003, then Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, granted Sunrise Power a Build-Operate-Transfer, BOT, contract to build a 3,050MW plant at Mambilla at about $6 billion. Under the deal, Sunrise was to fund the project and recoup its investment through power sales over a long-term period.
The validity of that award became a major point of contention. At trial in 2025, an EFCC investigator told the court that neither former President Obasanjo nor the Federal Executive Council, FEC, authorised the contract, and that Agunloye awarded it on May 22, 2003, shortly after an FEC meeting where the proposal was said to have been withdrawn. Agunloye has denied the criminal charges preferred against him.
Sunrise dragged Nigeria to ICC arbitration on October 10, 2017, demanding about $2.354 billion for alleged breach of the 2003 agreement.
A settlement was subsequently reached for Nigeria to pay Sunrise $200 million, with a 10% default penalty clause. Sunrise later initiated a separate $400 million claim over the settlement, which grew to about $680 million with accrued interest.
With the September 17, 2026 award, the ICC has now dismissed the linked claims, wiping out a potential liability of over $3.38 billion.
Other Court Cases
The dispute has also triggered domestic criminal and civil cases. In December 2023, the EFCC declared former Minister Agunloye wanted for alleged fraud linked to the $6 billion Mambilla contract.
In September 2024, the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the EFCC to delist Sunrise promoter, Leno Adesanya, from its wanted list over allegations connected to the project. The Court of Appeal later suspended enforcement of that order pending the Federal Government’s appeal.
String of Recent Legal Wins for Nigeria
The Mambilla award adds to a run of major litigation successes recorded by Nigeria against huge financial claims.
In October 2023, the Commercial Court in London vacated arbitral awards against Nigeria in the case involving Process & Industrial Developments, P&ID. The awards, initially $6.6 billion plus interest and valued at over $11 billion at the time of the UK hearing, stemmed from a failed gas processing contract. The court held that the awards were secured by fraud and procured in a manner contrary to public policy.
In November 2025, Nigeria also prevailed in a prolonged dispute over civil works at the Ajaokuta Steel Complex. A tribunal set up under the Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre of the Federal High Court dismissed claims by Fougerolle Nigeria Ltd and Fougerolle SA totalling about N4 billion and €185.7 million.
Similarly, in February 2026, Nigeria won an arbitration filed by European Dynamics UK Ltd concerning a national e-government procurement project. The tribunal struck out all claims by the company amounting to about $6.2 million, according to the Attorney-General’s office.