The Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) has called on the Code of Conduct Tribunal to probe former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over an alleged undeclared $500,000 foreign transaction made while he was in office.
The call followed revelations contained in a recent International Chamber of Commerce arbitration award on the disputed 3,960MW Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.
In a statement signed by its Chairman, Dr Omoniyi Akinsiju, IMPI said its review of the 616-page arbitral award showed that $500,000 was transferred on January 30, 2003, from China Castle Investments, an offshore company linked to Sunrise Power promoter, Leno Adesanya, into a United States Citibank account belonging to Atiku’s then-wife, Jennifer Douglas.
The group said the payment was made about two weeks before Sunrise Power submitted its tender for the multi-billion-dollar Build, Operate and Transfer contract.
According to IMPI, the tribunal noted the close timing between the payment to Douglas and the alleged award of the BOT contract to Sunrise Power on May 22, 2003.
While Atiku’s legal team argued that the ICC tribunal did not make an explicit finding of bribery against him, IMPI said the tribunal rejected the explanation that the payment was a domestic foreign-exchange swap, citing the absence of supporting financial documentation.
The group said the circumstances surrounding the transaction warranted investigation under Nigeria’s Code of Conduct framework.
The statement read, ‘Under Section 7 of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, public officers are strictly prohibited from maintaining foreign bank accounts.
‘If the former Vice President was the ultimate source of these foreign funds routed through a third-party offshore shell entity, or if he maintained undeclared foreign accounts to service his family abroad while in office as evidenced by Adesanya and his former wife, Jennifer, it constitutes a clear constitutional breach.’
IMPI also cited US State Department diplomatic cables reviewed during the arbitration proceedings, which described Adesanya as an ‘Atiku insider’ with direct access to the executive branch and said he accompanied official state delegations to China.
The group noted that although Atiku was not a direct signatory to the procurement process, his position as Vice-President gave him substantial influence over economic affairs.
It argued that undisclosed payments to a public official’s proxy around a critical procurement period raised questions about transparency and conflict of interest.
‘Even where direct quid-pro-quo instruction cannot be proven beyond reasonable doubt in civil arbitration, the existence of unverified, off-record offshore transfers creates an untenable conflict of interest.
‘It compromised the integrity of the original administrative process and set a dangerous precedent for major infrastructure concessions in Nigeria,’ the statement said.
IMPI also urged anti-corruption agencies to strengthen safeguards against the negotiation of major infrastructure projects outside statutory ministerial frameworks.
On possible sanctions, the group said that upon a successful prosecution, the CCT could order property forfeiture and impose a 10-year ban from holding public office, alongside possible criminal proceedings.