NIGERIA WINS P&ID CASE IN UK COURT FOR $11 BILLION

Babatunji Wusu –

Nigeria has won, and the $11 billion arbitration ruling in favor of Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Ltd. has been invalidated by Justice Robin Knowles of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales.

In a decision sent via email, the judge upheld Nigeria’s request on the grounds that the doomed gas processing contract was gained by deception.

Recall that in 2010, P&ID and Nigeria reached an agreement to construct a gas processing facility in Calabar, Cross River state. However, the business claimed that the transaction fell through because the Nigerian government failed to uphold its half of the bargain.

P&ID used legal action to obtain an arbitral decision against Nigeria, alleging that the nation had violated the terms of the contract.

However, on January 31, 2017, a private arbitration tribunal has mandated that Nigeria pay P&ID $6.6 billion plus interest, starting from March 20, 2013.

Nigeria requested an extension of time and remission from sanctions after the verdict.

In September 2020, Judge Ross Cranston of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales approved the application.

Before the verdict, the potential payment had risen to approximately $11 billion at a fixed interest rate of 7%, or $1 million every day.

The gas transaction was allegedly a ruse designed to deceive Nigeria, according to that nation. Federal government attorneys testified in court that P&ID officials accepted bribes to win the business.

P&ID, however, refuted the claim and charged the Nigerian government with making “false allegations and crazy conspiracy theories.”