Grace Taiga, the former Ministry of Petroleum Resources Director of Legal Services, is no longer with us. She was charged with receiving bribes from Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited.
Taiga reportedly fought kidney disease until her death in September 2023, but her family kept her passing a secret.
Taiga, who battled kidney disease, passed away in September 2023, according to TheCable. She will be buried in Delta State in December.
Before retiring on September 1, 2010, Taiga worked in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and Defense. Taiga was addressed extensively in a London court verdict that quashed a $11 billion award made against Nigeria in a P&ID-filed case.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detained her and filed charges against her on the grounds that she accepted money from P&ID to influence the contentious gas supply and processing agreement (GSPA) against Nigeria.
In January 2017, Nigeria was found in breach of contract and granted $6.6 billion plus seven percent interest by the London Court of International Arbitration.
According to the EFCC, Taiga’s daughter facilitated unlawful payments to her from Marshpearl Limited, a business under the ownership of P&ID.
Taiga is still getting paid by P&ID.
She allegedly continued to get money from P&ID directors after retiring, and she was also charged with not following the proper procedures when providing legal counsel regarding the GSPA.
On September 20, 2019, she entered a plea of “not guilty” to the eight-count accusation of fraud brought against her by the EFCC, and a Federal High Court in Abuja remanded her in the Suleja jail.
A few days later, the court set a N10 million bond for her.
The Commercial Courts of England and Wales justice Robin Knowles upheld Nigeria’s plea to have the $11 billion arbitration award set aside on the grounds that it was obtained through fraud on Monday.
Nigeria cross-examined Taiga, who had testified as a P&ID witness in the Knowles hearings.
Knowles declared in his decision that Taiga “certainly had a role in bringing about” the contentious gas deal.
According to the judge, bribes were given to Taiga both before and after the deal on behalf of P&ID, and he is “quite satisfied that Nigeria is correct in its allegations.”
The judge dismissed the argument that the funds Taiga received on P&ID’s behalf were for medical bills, stating that the attorney was aware that the “payments were corrupt.”
