The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has denied reports that it was instructed by the Federal Government to source $200million for settlement of the International Court of Arbitration in Paris in favour of Sunrise Power and Transmission Company in relation to the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project.
This was confirmed in the statement issued by the Head of Communications, NSIA, Titilayo Olubiyi and seen by Nairametrics on Wednesday.
NSIA, which described the report published by some media platforms as an unsubstantiated statement, explained that such claim differs from its mandate under the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (“PIDF”).
What NSIA is saying about Mambilla project
It stated, “NSIA is not involved in debt settlement on the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power project in any shape of form, neither has any debt on the project been transferred to the NSIA nor is NSIA designed to manage or absorb debt under its mandate.
“There is no directive from the Presidency or the Federal Government for that matter, instructing the Authority to source US$200m for settlement of a judgement debt award in favour of any foreign firm connected to the Mambilla project.
“The Authority has made several disclosures on its role in the Mambilla project in its Annual Reports and also online. As a committed and forthright investment institution of the federation, the Authority periodically updates stakeholders on the state of affairs relating to all its projects given that they are of national priority. In the event that there are developments relating specifically to the Mambilla project, NSIA will make disclosures as it has always done using all the appropriate communication channels at its disposal.
What you should know about the PIDF’s project
- The PIDF is a fund under the Presidency that is designed to accelerate the completion of 4 strategic infrastructure projects of which the Mambilla Project is one. The other 3 projects are the Lagos Ibadan Express, Abuja-Kano Road and Second Niger Bridge.
- The report had alleged that NSIA is under instruction from the Federal Government to “source $200million for settlement of International Court of Arbitration in Paris award in favour of the Chinese firm, Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited,” in relation to the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project (“Mambilla project”).
