Mambilla Scam: EFCC Fields Fifth Witness Against Agunloye

​ABUJA — The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday sustained its judicial offensive against the former Minister of Power and Steel, Olu Agunloye, presenting its fifth prosecution witness (PW5) before an FCT High Court sitting in Apo, Abuja.

​Agunloye is standing trial before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie on an amended seven-count charge bordering on official corruption, forgery, and the fraudulent award of the controversial $6 billion Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project contract. The contract was awarded in May 2003 to Sunrise Power Transmission Company Limited (SPTCL) allegedly without budgetary provision, executive approval, or cash backing.

​Ministry Official Verifies Disputed FEC Minutes

​At the resumed hearing on Monday, the prosecution counsel, Abba Mohammed, SAN, led the fifth witness, Iliya John Iyakwari, in evidence. Iyakwari, an Assistant Director of Legal in the Federal Ministry of Justice currently deployed as the Assistant Legal Adviser to the Federal Ministry of Power, provided key testimony regarding the paper trail of the disputed contract.

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​Iyakwari testified that he formally certified an extract of the minutes from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held on May 21, 2003—the critical period during which the multi-billion dollar contract was allegedly authorized by Agunloye against state directives.

​According to the witness, the EFCC had initiated a formal request in June 2023 addressed to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Power, seeking the administrative records of that specific 2003 cabinet meeting.

​”The Permanent Secretary forwarded the letter to the Legal Service Department, requesting the information,” Iyakwari told the court. “The legal department wrote to the department that handles such records to give us the extract. They forwarded the copy of the said extract, where my legal adviser asked me to certify the copy. I subsequently forwarded the certified copy of the extract using our official letterhead to the EFCC.”

​The prosecution presented the EFCC’s original letter of request and the Ministry’s formal response, which were identified by the witness and admitted by the court as exhibits EFCC 3J and EFCC 3K, respectively.

​Deepening Drama Over a $6 Billion Paper Trail

​The certification of these minutes forms a crucial anchor for the anti-graft agency’s case. The EFCC maintains that former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration never gave a final green light for the $6 billion Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) contract.

​Previous testimonies from earlier witnesses—including EFCC investigators—alleged that the FEC had actively rejected Agunloye’s initial memo requiring a 25% federal government equity participation ($1.5 billion). Instead, the cabinet had reportedly instructed the former minister to withdraw the memo and negotiate a lower government stake. The EFCC asserts that Agunloye bypassed these directives, issuing an unauthorized contract award letter to SPTCL on May 22, 2003, just days before the administration’s term ended.

​Agunloye has consistently pleaded “not guilty” to all charges, maintaining that he acted in the best interest of the country and characterizing the long-running legal battle as a malicious attempt to make him a scapegoat for the project’s systemic abandonment. The EFCC has also alleged a financial link, pointing to an irregular ₦5.2 million payment made to Agunloye by SPTCL Chairman Leno Adesanya, which the defense claims was strictly for a medical emergency.

​Justice Onwuegbuzie subsequently adjourned the case until June 8, 2026, where the defense team, led by Adeola Adedipe, SAN, is expected to cross-examine the legal official on the integrity and origins of the certified cabinet records.