$6bn Hydropower Project: Ex-minister seeks court’s permission to travel abroad, EFCC opposes request

A former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, who is facing trial at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Apo, in Abuja, has requested permission to travel abroad for medical treatment.

The court seized Mr Agunloye’s passport to grant him a N50 million bail after his arraignment on fraud charges in January.

On Monday, he urged the court to release the passport so he could travel abroad on health grounds, promising to return to Nigeria to continue facing his trial after his treatment.

However, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the agency prosecuting him, opposed the application at Monday’s hearing before the trial judge, Jude Onwuegbuzie.

Mr Agunloye, who served in the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, is facing prosecution for alleged fraud regarding the failed $6 billion Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.

The EFCC charged him with seven counts, including fraudulent contract award, forgery, disobedience of a presidential order, and corruption.

Mr Agunloye, 75, denied all the seven counts.

Medical trip

EFCC’s Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, summarised in a press statement Monday’s proceeding where parties argued Mr Agunloye’s application for a medical trip.

According to the statement, Mr Agunloye’s lawyer, Adeola Adedipe, a

Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said his client needed urgent medical attention abroad.

However, the specific details, such as the destination of the planned trip and the medical conditions Mr Agunloye intends to treat abroad, were not mentioned in EFCC’s statement.

The defence lawyer presented five documents supporting his client’s overseas medical treatment application.

The documents, marked Exhibits A to E, included medical reports from University College Hospital, Ibadan in Oyo State, and the NISA Premier Hospital, Abuja.

They also included a letter from the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and an invitation from a foreign medical analyst requesting him to travel abroad for an urgent medical evaluation and attention.

The defence counsel maintained that Mr Agunloye required urgent and specialised medical attention, which is unavailable in Nigeria.

EFCC’s opposition

However, the EFCC’s prosecution counsel, Abba Mohammed, opposed the application.

He presented a counter-affidavit deposed to by Hussain Babangida, a prosecution witness and an investigator with the EFCC, urging the court to refuse to grant the application because Mr Agunloye could be a flight risk.

He alleged that during the investigation of the case, Mr Agunloye demonstrated unwillingness to present himself for trial until he was declared wanted.

EFCC declared Mr Agunloye wanted in December 2023.

Mr Agunloye, who surrendered himself for interrogation on 13 December 2023, a day after he was declared wanted, said he had not received any formal invitation from the commission.

In January, Mr Agunloye’s lawyer also denied the allegation of the former minister’s tendency to evade trial when the prosecution raised the same point to oppose his bail application after his arraignment.

The defence lawyer said at the time that it was a notion of the prosecution that was “borne out of misconception and communication barrier”.

The judge granted him bail on some conditions, including the seizure of his passport and a N50 million bail bond.

EFCC’s lawyer maintained at Monday’s hearing that releasing Mr Agunloye’s passport to enable him to travel abroad could impede justice, given the severity of the charges and the potential risk of the defendant absconding.

The EFCC’s lawyer concluded his submission, “We are expecting our noble lord to dismiss the defendant’s application on the credit of the complainant’s counter affidavit.”

The judge fixed 17 July for ruling on the former minister’s application.

The case

Lying at the heart of the case is the failed $6 billion hydropower contract, which dates back to May 2003.

The project, intended to generate 3,960 megawatts of electricity, was designed to be executed on a build, operate, and transfer basis.

Mr Agunloye is standing trial on charges stemming from the manner in which he awarded the failed contract and favour he allegedly received from the beneficiary of the contract.

In one of the seven counts filed by the EFCC, the commission accused him of awarding the contract in May 2003 for the construction of 3,960 megawatts (MW) Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station on a ‘Build, Operate and Transfer basis’ “without any budgetary provision, approval and cash backing”.

EFCC said the award of the contract to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited (SPTCL) constituted an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 22(4) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

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It also charged Mr Agunloye with corruptly receiving N3.6 million from Sunrise Power company in August 2019, years after leaving office, for the purported approval of the federal government for the award of the contract to the company.

EFCC said this act is also contrary to and punishable under Section 8(1)(a) and (b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

In March, the Federal High Court in Abuja, a court with coordinate jurisdiction as the FCT High Court where Mr Agunloye is facing prosecution, dismissed his suit alleging abuse of his fundamental rights and seeking to be shielded from investigation and trial.