After over five years of a legal battle between Nigeria and Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited, the UK Court has judged in favour of Nigeria, halting the enforcement of the $11 billion arbitration award to the company against Nigeria, over a failed 2010 deal to allegedly build a gas processing plant.
The judgment which was delivered by Justice Robin Knowles, the judge of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales via email on Monday, upheld Nigeria’s prayer on the ground that the ill-fated gas processing contract was obtained by fraud.
Reacting to the judgment, President Bola Tinubu applauds Justice Knowles for awarding a landmark victory to the Federal Government of Nigeria over P&ID Limited.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale in a statement on Monday, quoted Tinubu to have commended the UK Court for prioritizing the merits of the case above all other considerations.
Tinubu said, “this landmark judgment proves conclusively that nation-states will no longer be held hostage by economic conspiracies between private firms and solitarily corrupt officials who conspire to extort and indebt the very nations they swear to defend and protect.
“Today’s victory is not for Nigeria alone. It is a victory for our long-exploited continent and for the developing world at large, which has for too long been on the receiving end of unjust economic malpractice and overt exploitation.
“Nigeria is appreciative of the tremendous efforts of the defense team and acknowledges the role of the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Attorney-General in the process of defending Nigeria’s interest in this case,” the President stated.
Recall, On January 31, 2017, a private arbitration tribunal ruled that Nigeria should pay P&ID $6.6 billion as damages, as well as pre-and post-judgment interest at seven percent.
Following the judgment, Nigeria applied for an extension of time and relief from sanctions, which was granted by a judge of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales in September 2020.
