Nigeria has secured a major legal victory in the long-running dispute over the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, after an International Chamber of Commerce arbitration tribunal in Paris rejected a $2.35 billion claim brought by Sunrise Power and Transmission Company.
The ruling, issued on September 17, also rejected a separate $400 million claim linked to a 2020 settlement agreement. The wider disputes had exposed Nigeria to potential claims exceeding $3.38 billion.
Instead of paying the claimed sums, Nigeria was awarded 75 percent of its legal fees and expenses from the arbitration. The amount was put at about $11.82 million, with $2.5 million to come from funds held in escrow and the remaining $9.32 million payable by Sunrise Power and its promoter, Leno Adesanya.
The dispute began with a 2003 agreement connected to the proposed construction of the Mambilla project in Taraba State. Sunrise began arbitration proceedings against Nigeria in 2017.
Why the Ruling Matters for Mambilla
The Mambilla power project latest news is significant because the dispute has been one of the major legal problems surrounding a project that has been discussed for more than two decades.
The project was originally planned as a 3,050MW hydroelectric facility. The Federal Government later reduced the planned capacity to about 1,500MW to make the project more financially viable and attractive to lenders.
President Bola Tinubu described the arbitration decision as the biggest legal hurdle affecting the project and said the ruling clears the way for its continuation.
That does not mean the turbines can start generating electricity immediately. The project still needs financing, final structuring, procurement and construction before it can deliver power.
The Next Test is Financing and Construction
The end of the arbitration shifts attention to the practical side of the 1,500MW Mambilla power project.
The African Union’s PIDA project database still lists Mambilla as being in the structuring stage, with financing arrangements and procurement among the steps that need to be completed.
That means the legal victory removes one major obstacle, but it does not by itself guarantee a construction start date.
For Nigeria, the next important developments will therefore be whether the government can secure financing, complete the project’s commercial structure and move into procurement.
If those steps follow, the arbitration ruling could become more than a courtroom victory. It could mark the point when the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project begins moving toward the infrastructure phase after years of legal and political delays.
