The Court of Appeal in Abuja has stayed the execution of a Federal High Court judgment which barred the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from investigating Leno Adesanya, the promoter of Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd, over criminal allegations related to the $6 billion Mambilla hydropower contract.
The appeal court delivered the verdict on Thursday in an application for stay filed by the Attorney General of the Federation’s counsel, T.A. Gazali SAN. Justice Inyang Ekwo of the trial court had previously ordered the EFCC to immediately remove Leno Adesanya from its wanted list in connection with any criminal allegations related to the $6 billion Mambilla hydropower contract. Justice Ekwo issued the judgment on September 23, 2024, in a suit filed by Adesanya’s lawyer, M.S. Diri SAN.
The EFCC had declared Adesanya wanted for “an alleged case of conspiracy and corrupt offer to public officers” related to the Mambilla project. However, the applicant’s lawyer, Diri, sought a perpetual injunction restraining the EFCC from further investigating, inviting, or publishing his client’s name as a wanted person over the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, citing a pending case at the International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration in Paris.
Passing its verdict on Thursday, a three-member panel of the appeal court, led by Justice Joseph Oyewole, upheld the AGF’s submission about the potential damage occurring if the judgment is not stayed. He subsequently stayed the execution of the September 23 judgment pending the determination of the pending appeal filed by the AGF.
Recall that the EFCC is prosecuting Olu Agunloye, a former Minister of Power and Steel, in separate court proceedings regarding the alleged $6 billion Mambilla hydropower contract. The EFCC alleges that Agunloye “corruptly received the sum of N3,600,000.00” through his Guaranty Trust Bank account no. 0022530926 from Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited (SPTCL) and Leno Adesanya for approving the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station project.