A new turn unfolded in the high-profile corruption case involving former Power Minister Olu Agunloye when a prosecution witness shed light on the certification process of Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting minutes tied to the $6 billion Mambilla Power Project contract. The testimony was delivered on Wednesday before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Apo, Abuja.
Agunloye faces a seven-count charge from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) related to official corruption and the alleged unlawful award of the project to Sunrise Power Transmission Company Limited. The witness, Iliya John Iyakwari, an Assistant Director of Legal at the Federal Ministry of Justice currently serving as an Assistant Legal Adviser in the Power Ministry, was cross-examined by defense counsel Adeola Adedipe, SAN.
Iyakwari explained that the EFCC requested certified extracts of the May 21, 2003 FEC meeting minutes in July 2023. However, the initially submitted documents lacked proper certification. After discovering this, the EFCC returned them to the ministry. “In January 2024, an EFCC staff brought back the exhibit to my legal adviser, reminding my director that certification was missing,” Iyakwari stated. The documents were finally certified on January 26, 2024, once the oversight was corrected.
The witness also admitted to inadvertently stamping the original forwarding letter during recertification before returning it to his director. During the hearing, prosecution counsel Abba Mohammed, SAN, objected to defense claims that Iyakwari had contradicted himself regarding the certification date. Mohammed argued that the witness merely summarized activities from 2023 without stating that certification occurred that year. “The record shows he summarized events from 2023; he never claimed certification happened then,” Mohammed told the court.
Further objections were raised by the prosecution against questions concerning documents previously introduced by another witness, asserting that Iyakwari should not be cross-examined on evidence he did not present. Justice Onwuegbuzie adjourned the matter to June 18 and July 2, 2026, for continued proceedings.