The Federal Government of Nigeria won the legal tussle against Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited in a London court on Monday.
The decision came after five years of legal processes that ultimately benefited Nigeria, as the court annulled the $11 billion arbitration verdict in favour of Nigeria.
Robin Knowles, the Justice of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales, upheld Nigeria’s petition on the grounds that the doomed gas processing contract was secured by deception.
The judgement was handed down by the Business and Property Court in London in a case involving the Federal Government of Nigeria and Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited.
This decision came after the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) Chief Executive Officer, Gbenga Komolafe, encouraged the bid winners for the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialization Programme (NGFCP) to expedite site development.
Meanwhile, the federal government and its partners have begun the deployment of small tankers for the transfer of crude oil across the Niger Delta’s creeks, following a protracted failure to repair the region’s frequently vandalized pipelines.
P&ID had contracted with Nigeria in 2010 to develop a gas processing plant in Calabar, Cross River State, but the company said the contract fell through because the Nigerian government failed to meet its obligations.
P&ID went to court, claiming Nigeria violated the terms of the contract, and won an arbitral decision against the country.
On January 31, 2017, a panel ordered that Nigeria pay P&ID $6.6 billion in damages, plus 7% pre- and post-judgement interest.
Following the judgement, Nigeria requested a time extension and relief from sanctions.
The motion was granted in September 2020 by Ross Cranston, a judge of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales, returning the case to arbitration.
Nigeria said that the gas contract was a ruse designed to swindle the country.
Lawyers for the federal government said in court that P&ID officials bribed their way into the deal.
However, P&ID refuted the claim, accusing the Nigerian government of “false allegations and wild conspiracy theories.”
Nigeria claimed in court in March that the contract was obtained by dishonest tactics such as bribery and perjury and that the arbitration decision, which has now increased to $11 billion due to interest, should be overturned.
