The Mambilla Power Dispute: A Legal Opinion
By Aloy Ejimakor The long-running dispute between Nigeria and Sunrise Power over the 3,050MW (later rescoped to 1,500MW) Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, serves as a textbook study in institutional exposure to legacy liabilities. Although the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitral tribunal in Paris dismissed Sunrise’s $2.35 billion claim and its secondary $400 million settlement default claim and ordered the claimant to pay Nigeria’s legal costs, the 23-year Mambilla saga exposes structural vulnerabilities in how the government executes contracts and handles out-of-court settlements. Below are key institutional, regulatory, and legal lessons the Federal Government must implement to prevent similar exposure…












