The Nigerian government has recovered the $200 million bond it deposited ahead of arbitration proceedings in its legal battle against Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) over an $11 billion judgment that was later quashed by a UK court.
The recovery marks another significant milestone in the country’s determined effort to overturn one of the biggest financial claims ever leveled against it.
Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi SAN, confirmed the bond’s return during a press briefing at the OAGF headquarters on Thursday. Flanked by members of Nigeria’s legal team, including the National Coordinator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Legal & Investigation for P&ID, Kofo Abdulsalam-Alada, and the UK-based lead litigation counsel, Shaistah Akhtar, Fagbemi praised the team’s resilience and skill in dismantling what he described as a fraudulent case that could have burdened Nigeria with an astronomical financial liability.
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“For completeness, I want to say that before we went into this arbitration, there was a demand for a deposit or bond of $200 million, which Nigeria paid. After our success, this bond was released,” Fagbemi stated.
The government is now focused on recovering legal costs it incurred during years of litigation, with Akhtar revealing that Nigeria is entitled to “tens of millions of pounds” in legal compensation. She disclosed that the UK court has already ordered an interim payment of £20 million in Nigeria’s favor, of which £10 million has been paid. The remainder is currently stayed, pending a July 2025 Supreme Court ruling on a dispute raised by P&ID over the currency in which the final settlement should be made.
The bond refund and ongoing cost recovery reflect the comprehensive legal victory Nigeria secured in October 2023, when Justice Robin Knowles of the Business and Property Court in London ruled that the $11 billion arbitration award obtained by P&ID in 2017 was based on fraud and corruption.
The decision brought an end to more than a decade of legal wrangling that began in 2010 when P&ID signed a gas processing deal with Nigeria. Under the agreement, P&ID was to build and operate a gas processing plant in Calabar, Cross River State, to convert wet gas from Nigeria’s petroleum operations into usable products. The company later accused Nigeria of failing to fulfill its part of the bargain, prompting a 2017 tribunal ruling that awarded it $6.6 billion plus interest, ballooning the total to $11 billion.
However, Nigeria challenged the award, arguing that the original contract was obtained through bribery and fraud. Evidence presented in court showed that P&ID executives offered financial inducements to Nigerian officials during the contract’s negotiation and procurement stages, undermining the legality of the deal.
Akhtar added that P&ID and its backers had initially resisted paying the court-ordered costs, prompting Nigeria to apply pressure. The result, she said, was a partial payment while the remainder awaits final judicial determination.
Kofo Abdulsalam-Alada, a key figure in Nigeria’s legal strategy and a former director at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said the case has set a precedent that the government is committed to enforcing going forward.
“And there are similar things still going on behind the scenes, and the government, having done this in the case of P&ID, is also resolved that we are going to toe the same line and never enter into settlements with this type of people”, he said.
He also emphasized that P&ID and its financiers would be held accountable for the costs of Nigeria’s legal defense, which they have begun to pay back.
“Let it be known that these people not only lose in the courts; they’re also going to lose the amount that we spent defending this country, because they are going to pay back, and they have actually started paying back.
“And it’s a lesson, sending a signal to others who attempt to drag Nigeria through this route that they will be made to pay,” he added.
The UK High Court’s ruling was celebrated by legal observers as a significant moment for global arbitration, reinforcing the need for transparency and due diligence in high-stakes commercial contracts involving sovereign states. The judgment also spared Nigeria a devastating financial blow, equivalent to about 30% of its national budget.
The federal government had faced mounting pressure over the years to settle the P&ID claim, but President Donald Trump’s administration in the U.S., along with other allies, reportedly backed Nigeria’s stance that the claim was fraudulent and should not be honored.
As it stands, the Nigerian government is poised not only to recoup all expenditures tied to the P&ID case but also to send a clear message to other companies that fraudulent claims and backdoor dealings will not go unchallenged.
The July 2025 UK Supreme Court ruling is expected to bring a final resolution to the matter of cost reimbursements. In the meantime, Nigerian authorities say the bond recovery and partial legal fee payment represent a major win in the country’s global legal posture.