BY CHARLES CHIJIOKE
A prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of former Minister of Power, Olu Agunloye, on Monday told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Apo, Abuja, that the extract of the minutes of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting under scrutiny originated from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
The witness, Ugochukwu Christian Okoli, who appeared as the fourth prosecution witness (PW4), made the disclosure while testifying before Justice Jude
Onwuegbuzie in a case involving alleged official corruption and the controversial $6 billion Mambilla Hydropower Project contract awarded in 2003.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Agunloye on an amended seven-count charge bordering on alleged fraudulent award of the contract to Sunrise Power Transmission Company Limited.
Under cross-examination by prosecution counsel, Abba Mohammed, SAN, Okoli stated that he served as an Assistant Legal Adviser in the SGF’s office between 2022 and 2023 on secondment from the Federal Ministry of Justice, during which he handled a request from the EFCC regarding the 2003 FEC meeting.
“Sometimes in September 2022, the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation received a letter from the EFCC requesting for the extract of the minute of FEC meeting held on the 21st of May, 2003, regarding the memo presented by the then Minister of Power on the construction of 3960 megawatts of Mambilla Hydro Electric Power station on build, operate and transfer basis.
The letter also requested for the confirmation of the approval or otherwise,” he said.
He explained that the request was processed through official channels within the SGF’s office before it was assigned to him for action.
“The letter was received in the office of the AGN and minuted to the Permanent Secretary. It was also minuted from the Permanent Secretary office to the Legal Department where it was assigned to me to treat.
I requested for the file from the cabinet affairs office, I went through the file and replied to the minute of the FEC meeting held on the 21st May 2003. I confirmed that the document is domiciled in the cabinets,” he added.
Okoli further told the court that he recommended certification of the relevant portion of the FEC minutes.
“I recommended that the extract of the minute as it relates to the deliberation on the memo presented by the then Honourable Minister be certified and the memo was forwarded to the Permanent Secretary and the recommendation of the Certified True Copy was approved by the Permanent Secretary with the directive of the Head of my Department, and he certified the extract which contains the deliberation and conclusion of the Federal Executive Council held on 21 May 2003,” he said.
He added that the certified extract, along with a forwarding letter signed by a Deputy Director in the cabinet affairs office, was subsequently transmitted to the EFCC.
Providing further clarification on procedure, the witness stated that after every FEC meeting, the cabinet affairs office—serving as the council’s secretariat—extracts relevant portions of the minutes for affected ministries, departments, and agencies.
He confirmed that the documents presented in court as Exhibits 3C and 3E were the same documents processed and forwarded in response to the EFCC’s request.
The testimony is considered significant to the prosecution’s effort to establish the authenticity and official origin of key government records central to the case, particularly concerning whether due process was followed in the approval of the Mambilla project contract.
The case, which has drawn national attention due to the scale of the project and long-standing disputes surrounding its execution, could have far-reaching implications for accountability in public procurement and the legal scrutiny of past government decisions.
Justice Onwuegbuzie adjourned the matter to April 30, 2026, for continuation of cross-examination.
