Nigeria has won an arbitration dispute at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) tribunal in Paris, defeating a $2.35 billion claim filed by Sunrise Power and Transmission Company over the long-delayed Mambilla Hydropower Project.

The tribunal, in a ruling issued on Thursday and signed by a three-member panel, dismissed Sunrise Power’s argument that the Federal Government breached its obligations under a 2020 settlement agreement and its subsequent addendum.

The panel also rejected the company’s demand for $400 million, which it sought as payment for a combined settlement and default sum.

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Rather than awarding damages to Sunrise Power, the tribunal ordered the company and its promoter, Leno Adesanya, to bear responsibility for the dispute.

The tribunal ruled that Adesanya was personally bound by the arbitration agreement, thereby giving it jurisdiction over Nigeria’s counterclaim against him and Sunrise Power.

Sunrise Power and Adesanya were further ordered to reimburse 75 per cent of Nigeria’s legal costs, amounting to $11.82 million.

Of the amount, $2.5 million will be deducted from funds already held in escrow by the ICC, while the remaining $9.32 million is to be paid directly.

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The tribunal also imposed a 10 per cent annual compound interest on the outstanding amount, beginning from the date the final award is notified.

In addition, arbitration costs of $1.66 million will be shared on a 75-25 basis in favour of Nigeria.

The tribunal was chaired by Melaine van Leeuwen, with Stavros Brekoulakis and Simon Nesbitt serving as co-arbitrators.

Nigeria’s legal team was led by Elizabeth Oger-Gross and Tolu Obamuroh of Paul Hastings LLP.

The dispute dates back to a 2003 agreement under which Sunrise Power was to develop the 3,050-megawatt Mambilla Hydropower Project in Taraba State under a build-operate-transfer arrangement.

The project was valued at about $6 billion at the time.

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Sunrise Power commenced arbitration proceedings in 2017, with a second claim filed after a 2020 settlement intended to resolve the dispute was allegedly not honoured.

The controversy surrounding the agreements has also involved former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari.

Both former presidents have publicly denied authorising the respective agreements, with Obasanjo denying approval of the original contract and Buhari denying authorisation of the 2020 settlement.

The latest ICC ruling brings a significant development to the long-running arbitration dispute over the proposed Mambilla hydropower project.

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