Mambilla project: Nigeria wins $2.35bn arbitration battle against Sunrise Power

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru President Bola Tinubu has commended the judgment of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration tribunal in Paris, framing it as a rebuke to “predatory and exploitative claims by corrupt local and international entities and their enablers and funders. An International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration tribunal in Paris has handed Nigeria a sweeping legal victory, dismissing Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Ltd’s claims and ordering the firm and its promoter, Mr. Leno Adesanya, to refund most of Abuja’s $11.82 million legal bill.

The September 17, 2026 award removes what President Bola Tinubu described as “the single biggest legal hurdle” that had paralysed the 3,960MW Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project in Taraba State for more than two decades. The three-member ICC panel rejected Sunrise’s core arguments that Nigeria breached a 2020 settlement agreement and its addendum relating to the disputed 2003 build‑operate‑transfer contract for a 3,050MW plant. It also dismissed the company’s demand that Nigeria pay $400 million as a combined settlement and default sum.

Instead of awarding damages to Sunrise, the tribunal ordered Sunrise and Adesanya to reimburse Nigeria 75% of its legal costs—$11,819,506.51—with $2.5 million to be deducted from escrow and the balance of $9,319,506.51 payable directly, plus 10% annual interest. It fixed arbitration costs at $1,656,500 and allocated 75% to Sunrise/Adesanya and 25% to Nigeria. It also held Adesanya personally bound by the arbitration agreement, underscoring the panel’s view that the claim was improperly pursued.

The Mambilla project, conceived in the early 2000s to deliver up to 3,960MW of baseload power, became mired in controversy after the Federal Executive Council never authorised the original 2003 contract. Reacting to the judgment, the President said: “An International Arbitration Tribunal under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, today, September 17, 2026, issued an award in favour of our country, rejecting the claims in the arbitration instituted by Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Ltd (Sunrise). “The company had made a claim against the Federal Republic of Nigeria, demanding $680 million as a settlement sum and interest in respect of another arbitration in which it is claiming over $2.7 billion in compensation and interest r…

Nigeria has won an arbitration dispute against Sunrise Power over the Mambilla hydropower project, with an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) tribunal in Paris dismissing the company’s $2.35 billion claim against the country. The tribunal on Thursday also ordered Sunrise Power and its promoter, Leno Adesanya, to reimburse Nigeria 75 percent of the legal fees and expenses incurred during the arbitration. In its decision, signed by the three-member panel, the tribunal dismissed Sunrise’s claim that Nigeria breached its contractual obligations under a settlement agreement and an addendum entered into by both parties.

The panel also rejected the company’s request for an order directing Nigeria to pay $400 million, comprising a $200 million settlement sum and another $200 million default sum. The tribunal further ruled that Adesanya is bound by the arbitration agreement with Nigeria under the settlement agreement and addendum. It also held that it has jurisdiction over Nigeria’s counterclaim against Adesanya and his firm.