$6bn Mambilla Fraud Trial: Witness says disputed FEC minutes came from SGF’s office

$6bn Mambilla Fraud Trial: Witness says disputed FEC minutes came from SGF’s office

A prosecution witness in the trial of former Minister of Power Olu Agunloye on Monday told the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Apo, Abuja, that the extract of the minutes of the 21 May 2003 Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting tendered in the case originated from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).

The witness, Ugochukwu Okoli, the fourth prosecution witness, gave testimony before a trial judge, Jude Onwuegbuzie, during proceedings in the ongoing trial over the alleged fraudulent award of the $6 billion Mambilla Hydropower Project contract.

Mr Agunloye is facing seven charges of official corruption and fraudulent award of the contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited.

Testifying during my cross-examination by prosecution lawyer Abba Mohammed, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Okoli said he handled a request from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for certified extracts of the FEC minutes while serving on a posting from the Federal Ministry of Justice to the SGF’s office as an assistant legal adviser.

He told the court that in September 2022, the SGF’s office received a letter from the EFCC requesting the extract of the minutes of the 21 May 2003 FEC meeting concerning a memo presented by the then Minister of Power on the proposed 3,960 megawatts Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station.

“The letter was received in the office of the AGN and minuted to the Permanent Secretary. It was also minuted from the Permanent Secretary office to the Legal Department where it was assigned to me to treat,” Mr Okoli said, according to a statement by EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale.

He said he subsequently requested the relevant file from the Cabinet Affairs Office, reviewed the records and confirmed that the document was domiciled there.

According to him, he recommended that the relevant extract of the FEC minutes be certified and forwarded to the EFCC, a recommendation he said was approved by the Permanent Secretary.

“I recommended that the extract of the minutes as it relates to the deliberation on the memo presented by the then Honourable Minister be certified and the memo was forwarded to the Permanent Secretary and the recommendation of the Certified True Copy was approved by the Permanent Secretary with the directive of the Head of my Department, and he certified the extract which contains the deliberation and conclusion of the Federal Executive Council held on 21 May 2003.”

He stated that the certified true copy was thereafter dispatched to the anti-graft agency through a forwarding letter signed by A. Oyinoye, a deputy director in the Cabinet Affairs Office.

The witness also explained the standard procedure after FEC meetings, saying the Cabinet Affairs Office, as secretariat to the council, routinely extracts portions of the minutes relevant to ministries, departments and agencies.

When shown documents marked as Exhibits 3C and 3E, he identified them as the documents processed in response to the EFCC request.

Mr Onwuegbuzie adjourned the matter until 30 April for the witness’s cross-examination.

Monday’s testimony adds to a series of contested claims that have emerged during the trial over the validity of the Mambilla contract and whether it received FEC approval.

In November 2025, the third prosecution witness, Umar Babangida, an EFCC investigator, told the court that the contract award letter dated 22 May 2003, allegedly issued by Mr Agunloye, was forged.

Mr Babangida testified that EFCC investigations found no record showing FEC approved the contract and maintained that the award did not follow due process.

He also told the court that investigators obtained records showing 40 ministers attended the 21 May 2003 FEC meeting and that no approval was granted for the contract at that meeting.

Under cross-examination in March, however, the same witness acknowledged that the defendant reduced the federal government’s equity participation in the project from an initial proposed 25 per cent to not more than 10 per cent, a difference he agreed amounted to $900 million, though he insisted the reduction was done without presidential approval.

The witness also confirmed the EFCC alleged Mr Agunloye received N5.2 million in 2019 from businessman Leno Adesanya through an intermediary, an allegation the former minister has disputed, maintaining the money was related to a medical emergency.

The EFCC alleges Mr Agunloye unlawfully awarded the Mambilla project contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited without budgetary provision, approval or cash backing, and later received gratification linked to the transaction.

The prosecution has also alleged the former minister forged a letter conveying federal government approval for the project.