Alleged $6b Fraud: Presidency Reacts Amid Reports Tinubu ‘Forced’ Buhari to Appear in Paris Court
TheTalk.NG journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering politics and governance in Nigeria.
FCT, Abuja – The presidency has denied news on social media that President Bola Tinubu forced his predecessor Muhammadu Buhari to take the witness stand in a Paris court in France over a $6 billion Mambilla power contract fraud.
TheTalk.NG reports that an online media platform had reported that Buhari was hauled into court on Saturday, January 18, for allegedly breaching the terms of a power generation and distribution contract awarded to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
Tinubu denies humiliating Buhari.
Photo credits: Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Muhammadu BuhariSource: Facebook
TheTalk.NG reports that the $6 billion project has dragged on since 2003, and its main anchor, Leno Adesanya, has been a target of anti-graft investigations, including claims that he bribed a former minister at the time to secure the contract.
The online news medium stated that Buhari was grilled for hours on Saturday, January 18, and would continue his testimony today, Sunday, January 19, before the International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration in Paris in case number 26260/SPN/AB/CPB.
A top administration official was said to have disclosed that Buhari was reluctant to give testimony on the matter. Still, Lateef Fagbemi, attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, visited him at his residence in Daura, Katsina state, recently to reportedly compel his appearance.
However, the president, through Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu’s spokesperson, said late on Saturday, January 18, that the lawsuit was “private” and should not have been reported in the media. Onanuga added that the proceeding “was entirely confidential until the international arbitrators decide”.
Without mentioning Buhari’s name, the presidency maintained that all the prominent Nigerians involved in ‘defending’ the African nation in the $6 billion Mambilla power contract fraud case “are doing so willingly and out of sheer patriotism and conviction.”
The statement partly reads:
“While respecting the confidentiality of the proceeding, we wish to state categorically that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has not forced anyone to testify for or to refrain from testifying against Nigeria.
“All the eminent Nigerians involved in Nigeria’s defence are doing so willingly and out of sheer patriotism and conviction.
“President Tinubu and the entire country are grateful to them.”
Source: TheTalk.NG
