18/09/2026
REVEALED: $500,000, Atiku’s Ex-Wife, and the Mambilla Contract — Sunrise Promoter’s Arbitration Bombshell
Leno Adesanya says the January 2003 transfer to Jennifer Douglas was a foreign-exchange transaction carried out for former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar — less than four months before Sunrise was purportedly awarded the Mambilla hydropower BOT contract.
A $500,000 payment. An offshore company. A former vice-president’s then-wife. And one of Nigeria’s most controversial power projects.
That is the explosive mix now emerging from testimony by Leno Adesanya, promoter of Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited, before an international arbitration tribunal.
According to Adesanya, the $500,000 transferred to Jennifer Douglas — now former wife of ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar — in January 2003 was part of a foreign-exchange transaction carried out for Atiku.
The payment was made on January 30, 2003, through China Castle Investments Limited, an offshore company controlled by Adesanya.
The timing is raising eyebrows: it came less than four months before Sunrise was purportedly awarded a build-operate-transfer contract for the Mambilla hydropower project.
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The Timeline That Won’t Go Away
· January 30, 2003: $500,000 is transferred to Jennifer Douglas through China Castle Investments Limited, according to Adesanya.
· January 2003: The payment is described by Adesanya as part of a foreign-exchange transaction carried out for Atiku.
· Less than four months later: Sunrise is purportedly awarded the Mambilla BOT contract.
· Now: Adesanya makes the claim before an international arbitration tribunal.
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Why It Hits Hard
Mambilla is not just another power project. It is a multibillion-dollar symbol of Nigeria’s energy ambitions — and a long-running saga of contracts, disputes, and political intrigue.
The claim that $500,000 moved to Atiku’s then-wife just months before Sunrise’s purported award is likely to intensify scrutiny of the 2003 dealings.