An International Chamber of Commerce tribunal in Paris on September 17, 2026, dismissed Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited’s claims against Nigeria over the Mambilla hydroelectric project.
The award was detailed in a Statehouse press statement issued by President Bola Tinubu through Special Adviser Bayo Onanuga.
Sunrise sought $400 million from a 2020 settlement agreement plus interest, linked to a broader $2.35 billion claim over alleged breach of a 2003 contract.
The three-member panel rejected demands for a $200 million settlement sum and a further $200 million default payment.
It ordered Sunrise and promoter Leno Adesanya to reimburse Nigeria 75 percent of legal fees totaling $11.82 million, plus interest at 10 percent annually.
Of that sum, $2.5 million comes from ICC escrow funds, with the balance of $9.32 million payable by the claimants.
Arbitration costs of $1.66 million were split 75-25 against Sunrise and Adesanya.
“Today’s ICC ruling clears the single biggest legal hurdle that has paralysed the Mambilla hydro power project for years,” Tinubu said in the statement.
The dispute stems from a 2003 build-operate-transfer deal valued at $6 billion for a 3,050-megawatt plant in Taraba State, which Nigeria said the Federal Executive Council never authorised.
Sunrise filed arbitration in October 2017 seeking $2.354 billion in damages for alleged non-performance.
A 2020 settlement collapsed after payment failed, prompting the latest $400 million claim.
Former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari testified for Nigeria, as did ex-ministers Babatunde Fashola and Suleiman Adamu.
Nigeria’s defence team from Paul Hastings LLP, led by Elizabeth Oger-Gross and Tolu Obamuroh, secured the victory after nearly nine years of proceedings.
The outcome shields public funds from multi-billion-dollar exposure while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission continues related probes into the contract’s origins.
