President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday applauded the judgment of a London court on the botched 2010 gas processing plant contract awarded to a firm, Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID).
While Tinubu said the “victory is not for Nigeria alone,” the EFCC maintained that P&ID has, till today, not been able to show that it legitimately, and lawfully secured the deal.
P&ID was awarded the 20-year contract by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in 2010 to construct and operate a gas processing plant in Calabar, Cross River State as part of a wider plan to exploit the country’s abundant gas reserves.
After the deal collapsed, P&ID took Nigeria to arbitration in London and on January 31, 2017, was awarded $6.6 billion for lost profits – a sum which swelled with interest to about $11.5 billion before yesterday’s verdict by Judge Robin Knowles of Business and Property Court.
Following the 2017 judgment in favour of P&ID, Nigeria applied for an extension of time and relief from sanctions.
The application was granted by Judge Ross Cranston of the same court in September 2020, thereby returning the case to arbitration.
Nigeria had alleged that the gas deal was a scam.
Lawyers representing the Federal Government told the court that P&ID officials paid bribes to secure the contract.
But P&ID accused Nigeria of “false allegations and wild conspiracy theories.”
President Tinubu described yesterday’s judgment by Knowles as landmark, hailing the UK Court for prioritising the merits of the case above all other considerations.
The President added in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, that the verdict conclusively showed that Nigeria would “no longer be held hostage by economic conspiracies between private firms and solitarily corrupt officials who conspire to extort and indebt the very nations they swear to defend and protect.”
He said: “Today’s (yesterday) victory is not for Nigeria alone. It is a victory for our long-exploited continent and for the developing world at large, which has for too long been on the receiving end of unjust economic malpractice and overt exploitation.
“Nigeria is appreciative of the tremendous efforts of the defence team and acknowledges the role of the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Attorney-General in the process of defending Nigeria’s interest in this case.”
The EFCC said the judgment had vindicated its belief that the P&ID contract was a highly-orchestrated scam.
It recalled that the immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had acted wisely by declining an initial out-of-tribunal agreement for the payment of $850 million to the British firm.
Vowing to continue with the trial of those suspected of involvement in the botched deal, the anti-graft agency, said it was pleased with the judgment by Knowles because Nigeria’s international assets and oil cargoes would have been taken over by P&ID if the country had lost the case.
The anti-graft agency added in a statement by its spokesman, Dele Oyewale, that the verdict was a welcome relief going by the fact that “Nigeria does not even have the capacity to pay the judgment debt.”
The statement partly reads: “Two British nationals – James Richard Nolan and Adam Quinn (at large) – were, on October 18, 2021, re-arraigned before Justice D.U. Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja for their alleged complicity in the controversial Process and Industrial Development gas processing contract, leading to the $9.6b arbitral award to P&ID Limited by a United Kingdom commercial court.
“The defendants, both directors of Goidel Resources Limited, a Designated Non-Financial Institution (DNFI) and ICIL Limited, were docked on 32 counts of money laundering. Their trial still continues.”
Our global assets freed from risks, says Justice minister
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), said the judgment was precedence against similar “fraudulent” cases targeting Nigeria’s assets.
“It (legal process) has been a night of long knives! This success (verdict) marks the culmination of over a decade of legal action and is not just a victory for the people of Nigeria, but any similar target of corruption and fraud,” Fagbemi told a news conference in Abuja.
He revealed that despite dragging Nigeria to court, P&ID never secured any land or site for the project.
The minister also said there would be further hearings by the UK court to determine costs payable by P&ID to Nigeria and other matters.
“The arbitral award had over the years placed the assets of the FRN (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 attendant dire consequences for Nigeria and its people,” Fagbemi said.
Making reference to the words of Mark Howard KC, Nigeria’s lead counsel which he said, the court endorsed, the minister said: “P&ID is exactly the type of entity that was prepared to engage in bribery’, to achieve its aims – to undermine the administration of justice in Nigeria in the pursuit of, ‘riches beyond the dreams of avarice.”
Fagbemi posited that the success of the appeal represented a decisive victory for Nigerians “who stood to lose over $11 billion, and for the Nigerian administration which has now reached a milestone in its mission to challenge the scourge of corruption.”
He added: “The judgment also serves as a damning indictment of predatory international investors, who should now rightfully be deterred from preying upon Nigeria and other developing nations to satisfy their greed.
“P&ID and its associates both Nigerians and foreigners alike, shamelessly attempted to defraud the country and enrich themselves through sharing the FRN’s privileged documents, fraud, bribery and corruption on an industrial scale. Those efforts, which took place over many years, have finally been uncovered for all to see.
“It is imperative to point out that several agents of P&ID made overtures to the government for settlement of this case. However, the resolve of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to go hands in gloves with fraudulent counterparties or condone corruption informed the position of the FRN to hold fast to its position and not settle.”
“Indeed, earlier this morning, the President at the opening ceremony of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, reiterated this cardinal position of his administration.
“History has been made today(yesterday), as this judgment is no doubt significant in the annals of Nigeria and indeed Africa. This judgment has vindicated the government and should serve as a pointer to others who might be nursing or nurturing any plan to swindle Nigeria.”
