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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The tribunal further ruled that Adesanya is bound by the arbitration agreement with Nigeria under the settlement agreement and addendum.

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It also held that it has jurisdiction over Nigeria’s counterclaim against Adesanya and his firm.

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The tribunal put Nigeria’s legal fees and expenses at $11,819,506.51 and ordered Sunrise and Adesanya to reimburse 75 percent of the amount.

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Of the sum, $2.5 million will be paid directly from funds held in escrow by the ICC, which will be released following notification of the final award.

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Sunrise and Adesanya were ordered to pay the remaining $9,319,506.51, plus interest at an annual rate of 10 percent, “compounded annually, from the date of the notification of this Final Award until such amount is paid in full”.

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The tribunal also directed that the arbitration costs be shared, with Sunrise and Adesanya responsible for 75 percent and Nigeria covering the remaining 25 percent.

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The total arbitration cost was fixed at $1,656,500.

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The panel was chaired by Melaine van Leeuwen, with Stavros Brekoulakis and Simon Nesbitt serving as co-arbitrators.

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Nigeria was represented by a legal team led by Elizabeth Oger-Gross and Tolu Obamuroh, now of Paul Hastings LLP.

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Sunrise commenced arbitration proceedings against Nigeria at the ICC International Court of Arbitration on October 10, 2017, seeking a $2.354 billion award for “breach of contract” over a 2003 agreement to construct the 3,050MW Mambilla hydropower plant in Taraba State.

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The project, valued at $6 billion, was to be developed under a “build, operate and transfer” arrangement.

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In a second arbitration, Sunrise sought $400 million under the terms of a settlement agreement reached with the Nigerian government in 2020 to end the initial dispute.

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