The Nigerian Presidency has reacted to reports that former President Muhammadu Buhari was forced to testify in an arbitration proceeding in Paris over the $6bn Mambilla power contract dispute.
The reports which made the rounds on Saturday evening, had stated that Buhari had been summoned before a court in Paris and forced to testify in the Mambilla power contract dispute.
The report also claimed that Buhari was “hauled before the court on Saturday for breaching the terms of a power generation and distribution contract awarded to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company of Nigeria by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003.”
The report further claimed that Buhari was “grilled for hours on Saturday and would continue his testimony on Sunday before the International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration in Paris in case number 26260/SPN/AB/CPB.”
But in a statement issued late Saturday by Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency denied forcing Buhari to testify before the arbitration panel, insisting that all “eminent persons testifying in Nigeria’s defence are doing so willingly.”
In the press statement titled ‘President Tinubu Did Not Drag Any Eminent Nigerian to Paris,’ Onanuga described the reports as “fake news,” and clarified that the private proceeding which should not have been reported in the media in the first place, remains entirely confidential until the international arbitrators make a decision.
‘The attention of the Presidency has been drawn to some fake news on social media about an arbitration proceeding in Paris to which the Nigerian Government is a party,” Onanuga wrote.
“The private proceeding, which should not have been reported in the media, is entirely confidential until the international arbitrators decide.
“While respecting the confidentiality of the proceeding, we wish to state categorically that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has not forced anyone to testify for or to refrain from testifying against Nigeria.
“All the eminent Nigerians involved in Nigeria’s defence are doing so willingly and out of sheer patriotism and conviction.
President Tinubu and the entire country are grateful to them.”