After ICC Ruling, Sunrise Power to Decide Next Move in $2.35bn Mambilla Dispute

The legal battle surrounding Nigeria’s long-delayed Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project may not be over despite Nigeria’s recent arbitration victory.

Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited promoter Leno Adesanya says his legal team is reviewing the International Chamber of Commerce arbitration decision before deciding what to do next.

Adesanya disclosed this in a statement on Friday following the decision of the ICC tribunal in Paris. He said the company was carefully examining the award and that it would be premature to draw conclusions about its implications before the review was completed.

The development follows Nigeria’s reported victory in the long-running arbitration dispute over the Mambilla project.

The dispute has been tied to claims surrounding the project and the termination of agreements involving Sunrise Power.

For the Federal Government, the tribunal’s decision represents an important development in a dispute that has hung over one of Nigeria’s biggest proposed hydropower projects for years.

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For Sunrise Power, however, the latest ruling does not automatically bring the matter to an end. Adesanya said the company’s lawyers would determine the appropriate legal steps after completing their assessment of the award.

ValidViewNetwork reports that the distinction matters because an arbitration victory does not necessarily mean every related legal issue has immediately disappeared.

The Mambilla project, designed to generate large-scale electricity from Nigeria’s Taraba State highlands, has remained one of the country’s most ambitious but repeatedly delayed power projects.

The next stage will therefore depend on the legal review by Sunrise Power and any subsequent steps taken by the company.

The development keeps the long-running Mambilla dispute in the legal spotlight even as attention turns to whether the project can finally move beyond years of controversy and delay, ValidViewNetwork reports.