Nigeria has secured a major victory in its long-running arbitration dispute with Sunrise Power.
An International Chamber of Commerce tribunal in Paris dismissed Sunrise Power’s $2.35 billion claim against Nigeria.
The ruling also dealt a major blow to the company’s separate $400 million demand.
Sunrise had claimed Nigeria breached obligations linked to agreements over the Mambilla hydropower project.
The tribunal rejected the claim and refused the company’s demand for the $400 million payment.
That amount included a $200 million settlement sum and another $200 million default payment.
Sunrise Power and its promoter, Leno Adesanya, must also cover 75% of Nigeria’s legal costs.
The amount ordered for legal fees and expenses stands at $11.82 million.
The tribunal also fixed the arbitration costs at $1.656 million.
Sunrise and Adesanya will pay 75% of those costs, while Nigeria will cover the remaining 25%.
The dispute goes back to a 2003 agreement involving the proposed Mambilla hydropower project in Taraba State.
The project was planned as a 3,050-megawatt facility under a $6 billion build-operate-transfer arrangement.
Sunrise launched arbitration against Nigeria in 2017, seeking about $2.354 billion over the alleged breach.
The company later brought another claim connected to a 2020 settlement agreement.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo previously said he never authorised the 2003 contract.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari also declined to approve the 2020 settlement.
Buhari reportedly believed Sunrise had no valid basis for its claim.
The latest Nigeria arbitration victory means Sunrise’s multibillion-dollar demand has been dismissed.
The Nigeria arbitration victory also allows the country to recover a significant share of its legal expenses.
