From Victor Osula, Abuja
The Presidency has refuted claims that President Bola Tinubu took some eminent Nigerians to Paris to testify in Nigeria’s defense.
An online news platform reported that former President Muhammadu Buhari was summoned before a court in the French capital to testify in an arbitration proceeding over the $6bn Mambilla power contract dispute.
According to the report, 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.”
However, a statement by Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described the proceeding as entirely confidential.
Noting that the President has not forced anyone to testify for or to refrain from testifying against Nigeria, Onanuga said all the eminent Nigerians involved in Nigeria’s defense are doing so willingly and out of sheer patriotism and conviction.
He said, “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 defense are doing so willingly and out of sheer patriotism and conviction.”
