Mambilla project gets legal boost after $4.35bn claim

Nigeria has secured a major development in the long-running legal dispute surrounding the Mambilla hydropower project after an international arbitration tribunal rejected a $4.35 billion claim brought by Sunrise Power and Transmission Company.

The development removes a major legal obstacle surrounding the controversial project, which has been stalled for years amid the dispute.

The tribunal also ordered Sunrise Power and its promoter to bear 75 per cent of Nigeria’s legal costs, according to the information circulated about the ruling.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu welcomed the decision, describing it as a major step towards clearing the legal obstacles surrounding the Mambilla project.

The ruling is significant because the proposed hydropower project has long been presented as a potential major addition to Nigeria’s electricity-generation capacity.