The trial of former Minister of Power, Olu Agunloye, continued on Thursday before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Apo, Abuja, with a prosecution witness affirming that two disputed Federal Executive Council documents tendered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission contained the same deliberations and resolutions.
Agunloye is being prosecuted by the EFCC on an amended seven-count charge bordering on alleged official corruption and alleged fraudulent award of the 3,960MW Mambilla Hydro-Electric Power Project contract to Sunrise Power Transmission Company Limited, valued at $6 billion.
The former minister has denied the allegations.
At the resumed proceedings, prosecution witness Iliya John Iyakwari concluded his re-examination before the court after confirming that Exhibit EFCC 3D and Exhibit EFCC 3K contained identical extracts from the minutes of the May 21, 2003 FEC meeting relating to the Mambilla power project.
Iyakwari, a former Assistant Director, Legal, in the Federal Ministry of Justice, who currently serves as Assistant Legal Adviser in the Federal Ministry of Power, told the court that the deliberations, resolutions, conclusions and directives captured in both exhibits were the same word-for-word.
Lead prosecution counsel, Abba Muhammed, SAN, reminded the court that during cross-examination on June 18, 2026, defence counsel, Adeola Adedipe, SAN, had confronted the witness with the two exhibits and asked him to compare portions of the documents.
The prosecution said the witness had earlier stated during cross-examination that Exhibit EFCC 3D was not known to him.
However, during re-examination on Thursday, Muhammed asked the witness to again examine both Exhibit EFCC 3D and Exhibit EFCC 3K, particularly the extracts of the May 21, 2003 FEC meeting concerning the Mambilla Hydro-Electric Power Project contract.
Responding, Iyakwari told the court that the contents of both exhibits, including the deliberations, resolutions, conclusions and directives, were “the same verbatim.”
The development followed earlier proceedings in which the witness had been cross-examined on the authenticity and certification of FEC extracts tendered by the prosecution.
During the June 18 sitting, the defence had sought to show Exhibit EFCC 3D to the witness.
The prosecution objected, arguing that the witness could not be cross-examined on a document he did not make and which was not tendered through him.
Muhammed had anchored the objection on authorities including Buhari v. INEC and Palladium Mining Ltd & Gekpan Nigeria Limited.
The defence, however, pressed the issue as part of its challenge to the prosecution’s documentary evidence in the case.
At Thursday’s proceedings, the prosecution used re-examination to clarify the relationship between the two exhibits and the FEC records they contained.
Iyakwari maintained that the relevant portions of both documents relating to the Mambilla project contained the same records of deliberations and resolutions.
The case against Agunloye arose from the controversial award of the Mambilla Hydro-Electric Power Project contract to Sunrise Power Transmission Company Limited.
The EFCC alleges that the former minister unlawfully awarded the contract without proper approval and in breach of due process.
The anti-graft agency also alleges that the contract award involved official corruption and abuse of office.
Agunloye has consistently denied wrongdoing, insisting that the allegations against him are unfounded.
The Mambilla power project has for years been at the centre of legal, contractual and political controversy, including disputes over the role of Sunrise Power Transmission Company Limited and the validity of agreements allegedly connected to the project.
Following Thursday’s proceedings, Justice Onwuegbuzie adjourned the matter until July 6, 2026, for continuation of trial.
The latest testimony is significant because the disputed FEC documents form part of the prosecution’s evidence in its attempt to establish what was deliberated and resolved by the Federal Executive Council in relation to the Mambilla project.
The court is expected to continue hearing further evidence as the EFCC proceeds with its case against the former minister.
