The Federal Government of Nigeria has expressed its satisfaction with the judgment rendered by Judge Robin Knowles of the Business and Property Court in London, which awarded a significant victory to Nigeria in the case against Process & Industry Development (P&ID) Limited.
The government described the victory as a damning indictment of predatory international investors.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, announced this during a briefing with State House reporters at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. According to him, P&ID and its associates engaged in unscrupulous attempts to defraud Nigeria and enrich themselves through fraudulent means, bribery, and corruption on a large scale.
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Furthermore, Fagbemi noted that the United Kingdom court would conduct further hearings to determine the costs payable by P&ID and other parties involved in the matter. The Attorney General attributed the success of the P&ID case to close inter-agency collaboration within the federal government team.
The team consisted of various government agencies and organizations, including the Attorney General of the Federation, the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigerian Police Force, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Department of State Security Service (DSS), and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU). This cooperative effort played a pivotal role in securing a favorable outcome in the case against P&ID Limited.
Fagbemi said: “As you may all be aware by now, the Honorable Justice Robbin St. John Knowles of the United Kingdom commercial court today, handed down a historic judgment, in the suit, where the Federal Republic of Nigeria otherwise known as FRN, moved to set aside the arbitral award of $9.6 billion but which has now accrued interests come to $11 billion, made against Nigeria in 2017 in favor of P& ID for an alleged breach of a gas supply and processing agreement, purportedly entered into with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to establish a gas processing plant in Calabar for which P&ID never secured any land sight.
“The arbitral award had over the years, played the assets of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and those of its agencies all over the world, at the risk of attachment, erosion of foreign reserves and distortion of monetary, fiscal and other policies of government with attended dire consequences for Nigeria and its people. These emphasized the need for the FRN to vigorously challenge and resist the enforcement of the award by P&ID.
“The High Court has today ruled that the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s challenge to the arbitration award granted against it, to an obscure hedged fund back VVI shell entity process an industrial development limited in 2017 has been successful.”
The judgment delivered today [Monday] is a significant milestone in the legal battle against P&ID Limited. According to the Attorney General, the court’s ruling found that the award received by P&ID had been obtained through fraudulent means and was in direct contravention of public policy.
The judge’s conclusion highlighted that P&ID had engaged in severe abuses of the arbitral process to secure the award. This outcome represents the culmination of a decade-long legal struggle and is not only a victory for the people of Nigeria but also for any entity or nation targeted by corruption and fraud.
The lead counsel to Nigeria, Mark Orwell Casey, emphasized that P&ID was the type of entity willing to resort to bribery to achieve its goals and undermine the administration of justice in Nigeria in the pursuit of wealth.
This successful outcome is a decisive victory for the people of Nigeria, who were at risk of losing over $11 billion, and for the Nigerian government, which has taken a significant step forward in its ongoing mission to combat corruption.
“The judgment also serves as a damning indictment of predatory international investors, who should now rightfully be deterred from prying upon Nigeria and other developing nations to satisfy their greed. P&ID and its associates, both Nigeria and the world over, shamelessly attempted to defraud the country and enrich themselves through sharing the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s privileged document, fraud, bribery and corruption on an industrial scale. Those efforts, which took place over many years have now finally been uncovered for all of us to see,” the Attorney General further said.
“It is imperative to point out that several agents of P&ID made overtures even as at last week to the Federal Republic of Nigeria for settlement on this case, however, the resolve of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to go hand in gloves with fraudulent counterparties or condone corruption informed the position of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to hold fast to its position, not to settle.”
The significance of this judgment was reiterated by the President at the opening ceremony of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group earlier on Monday.
Fagbemi said the ruling stands as a historic moment, not only for Nigeria but for the entire African continent.
“It vindicates the government and sends a clear message to those who may be considering fraudulent schemes to exploit the country: justice will prevail, and Nigeria is determined to protect its interests,” he said.