Tinubu Denies Inviting Buhari, Others To Testify In Paris Over $6 Billion Mambilla Power Contract Fraud

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has denied reports that he forced anyone to testify for or to refrain from testifying against Nigeria.

OsunDailyNG reports that former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was reportedly dragged before a court in Paris, where he took the witness stand in an arbitration proceeding over a federal power contract dispute.

According to Peoples Gazette, 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.

Buhari was reportedly 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.

A top administration official told The Gazette that Buhari was reluctant to give testimony on the matter. Still, Attorney-General Lateef Fagbemi visited him at his residence in Daura last week to compel his appearance.

The report claims that Tinubu approved the decision to haul his predecessor before the foreign arbitration panel.

But in a statement on Saturday night, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, distanced the president from Buhari’s appearance in court.

The statement reads: “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.

“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.”