Mambilla: Sunrise promoter rejects Atiku, Dasuki links, backs Tinubu’s re-election
By Henry Ojelu
The promoter of Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited, Leno Adesanya, has rejected attempts to link him politically with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, saying such associations were being exploited by political detractors to create a misleading impression about his role in the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.
Adesanya, while reacting to renewed discussions surrounding the long-running Mambilla project, said his interest had always been the successful development of the project and not political patronage.
He described himself as a businessman who began his banking career with Citibank in the 1980s before building successful businesses, particularly in the energy sector.
According to him, his career and business activities had enabled him to develop relationships with people from different walks of life, stressing that personal or business associations should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of political affiliation or ulterior motives.
“I am a Yoruba man and more Tinubu than Atiku,” Adesanya said, stressing that his support for President Bola Tinubu was based not only on his ethnic background but also on his long-standing association with the President.
He said he wanted the Tinubu administration to succeed and had made several efforts to encourage an amicable resolution of the issues surrounding the Mambilla project.
“I wrote several times, even against the advice of my lawyers, to settle amicably towards the development of the project,” he said.
Adesanya said his overriding objective remained seeing the Mambilla hydropower project completed, rather than allowing political disagreements and controversies surrounding past associations to frustrate its development.
He described attempts to associate him with Atiku and Dasuki for political purposes as the work of what he called “mischief-doers and political detractors.”
According to him, people from different backgrounds had benefited from his generosity and friendship over the years, but such relationships should not be interpreted as evidence that he acted with hidden political motives.
“Some of the dates of association have no significant relevance to the Mambilla hydro project,” he said.
The comments come against the backdrop of the long-running legal dispute between Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited and the Federal Government over the Mambilla project.
The Federal Government recently announced that an International Chamber of Commerce arbitration tribunal in Paris had ruled in Nigeria’s favour in the dispute, which had constituted a major legal hurdle to the development of the project.
President Tinubu subsequently described the ruling as an important development for the long-delayed Mambilla project and indicated that the government was determined to move forward with its development.
The Mambilla project, located in Taraba State, has been conceived as one of Nigeria’s major power-generation projects, with successive administrations seeking to resolve the contractual, financing and legal challenges surrounding its implementation.
In 2017, the Federal Government signed a $5.792 billion contract for the development of the project, then designed to generate 3,050 megawatts of electricity.
Adesanya insisted that priority should now be to move beyond the controversies that have surrounded the project and focus on its potential contribution to Nigeria’s power supply and economic development.
He reiterated his desire to see the Mambilla project become a reality, saying his interest was to support efforts that would bring the long-awaited project to fruition.
He also reaffirmed his support for President Tinubu, saying he wanted the President to succeed and believed that the development of Mambilla should transcend political differences and competing narratives.
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