The chairman, Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Ltd, Mr Leno Adesanya, has said his company has no regrets paying the medical and travel expenses of former Minister of Power and Steel, Dr. Olu Agunloye, 21 years after leaving office.
Agunloye is standing trial before a Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of fraud in the award of $6billion 3.9MW Mambilla Hydro-power Project to Adesanya’s company.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Monday also declared Adesanya wanted in connection to the project.
Reacting to his being declared a ‘wanted person’ by the EFCC, Adesanya, in an open letter to President Bola Tinubu, said it is regrettable that the commission would declare him wanted without formally drawing his attention to any charge against him.
Adesanya also stated that it is laughable that the EFCC would accuse him of bribing Agunloye 21 years after he left office with N3.6million through payment of his medical bill and travel expenses.
He insisted that due process was followed in the award of Mambilla Hydro-Power Project and that his company has no regrets assisting Agunloye when the need arose.
“This criminalisation strategy of the FGN using institutions including the EFCC is manifest in its effort in alleging that I facilitated the payments of N3.5 million, N500,000 and N1.12 million (a total of N5.22 million) to Dr Agunloye, in 2019 to support his travel and medical treatment in Florida, is laughable, because Dr. Agunloye left the government 21 years ago, and ceased to be a public officer in 2001.
“It is pertinent to state that there is no alignment between my kindness of 2019 and the BOT contract of 2003. Who waits for bribes to be paid 16 years after a contract has been awarded? Which stupid minister will collect N12 million bribe for a $6 billion (today’s rate N11 trillion)? BOT contract; definitely is not a Nigerian security guard, let alone a minister.
“In the absence of any credible defence to Sunrise’s claims, the FGN through the EFCC has continued to desperately hunt down potential witnesses and to scandalise the underlying contract,” he stated.