MAMBILLA: Defence seeks Agunloye’s freedom following Paris tribunal ruling
Prosecution Witness, Liyel Imoke said he found that the 2003 BOT Contract was unlawful, but he did not report this or investigate it. Defence makes a serious case for Agunloye’s freedom_
The FCT High Court under Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie resumed sitting in the morning of Monday, 19 October 2026 at about 9.30 am after a three-month adjournment. The Prosecution lawyer, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Mohammed Abba, Esq. told the court that he had complied with all required obligations in respect of properly presenting Hon Liyel Imoke, former Minister of Power as the sixth prosecution witness, PW6.
The Defence lawyer, Mr. Adeola Adedipe, SAN informed the court that while the court was on adjournment, the Tribunal of International Chambers of Commerce (ICC) in Paris announced its ruling on the Mambilla Arbitration filed by Sunrise Power and Transmission Company on the 17th of September 2026. He told the court that arising from the 616-page ruling of the International Arbitration Panel, he had written a letter to the Hon. Attorney General of the Federation (HAGF) to request him to consider the discontinuation of the court case against Agunloye especially in light of Paragraph 1107 of the Tribunal ruling specifically on Dr. Agunloye, the defendant in the case in Nigeria. He, therefore, urged the FCT High Court Judge to use his discretion to adjourn for two weeks to enable the HAGF to respond or take the new witness. The judge ruled to take the new witness (Chief Liyel Imoke) first since he was already in the court.
In his examination in chief, Chief Liyel Imoke, PW6 told the court that he was the Minister of Power from 2003 to 2006, that he wrote a letter dated 4 September 2003 to Sunrise and Company to inform him that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and the President did not approve the 2003 BOT contract award issued by the Defendant, Dr. Agunloye. Imoke described the contract as “unlawful, null and void”. He added that he came to that conclusion after reading FEC Conclusions in the file of the Ministry of Power. He affirmed that the FEC documents had not been altered. He also told the court how he redesigned the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power as the Minister of Power.
Under cross-examination, the former minister of power, Liyel Imoke (PW6) admitted that even though he found that the Award of the 2003 BOT contract “was unlawful”, he did not report to any Law Enforcement Agents or order any investigations. He also admitted that he did not bring it to the attention of the Federal Executive Council.
At this point, the Prosecution Lawyer requested for an adjournment which the Judge granted until 2nd November 2026 to continue the cross-examination of PW6. The court also set aside four days in November, the 4th, 9th and 11th of November 2026 for the trial.
#AbujaNews. 19/10/2026
