The Nation Newspaper

Tag: P&ID

  • Judgment against P&ID freed Nigeria’s global assets from imminent risks – Fagbemi

    Judgment against P&ID freed Nigeria’s global assets from imminent risks – Fagbemi

    The Federal Government said the legal victory over Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID) in the $11.5 billion case at a London court has freed Nigeria’s assets and its agencies around the world from the risks they were exposed to.

    The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, who disclosed this to journalists at the State House, Abuja, also said P&ID fate before the court was not just victory for Nigeria but a precedence against similar fraudulent targeting of others.

    He noted that the UK High Court ruled that Nigeria’s challenge to the arbitration award granted against it to an obscure hedge-fund backed BVI shell entity P&ID in 2017 has been successful.

    He noted that despite dragging government to court for an agreement it purportedly entered into with the ministry of petroleum resources to establish a gas processing plant in Calabar, P&ID never ever secured any land site.

    He however, disclosed that there will be further hearings by the UK court on the heels of the judgment to determine costs payable by P&ID and other matters.

    “The Arbitral Award had over the years placed the assets of the FRN 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,” he said.

    Fagbemi said for the current administration, “it has been a night of long knives! This success 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.”

    He referenced the words of Mark Howard KC, lead counsel for the Federal Government, which he said, the court endorsed, noting: “P&ID was 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 successful result is a decisive victory for the people of Nigeria “who stood to lose over US$11 billion, and for the Nigerian administration which has now reached a milestone in its mission to challenge the scourge of corruption.”

    Read Also: Obasanjo urges FG to ban Chinese Adire, revive textile industry

    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 not to 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, 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.

    “The success recorded was as a result of close inter-agency collaboration of the FGN Team comprising the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation (HAGF)/ Federal Ministry of Justice (FMoJ), Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigerian Police Force (NPF), Central bank of Nigeria (CBN), Ministry of Petroleum Resources (MPR), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Department of State Security (DSS) and the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU),” he said.

  • UPDATED: Nigeria wins bid as UK court quashes $11bn P&ID award

    UPDATED: Nigeria wins bid as UK court quashes $11bn P&ID award

    A Business and Property Court in London presided over by Justice Robin Knowles of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales has quashed the 11 billion dollars awarded against Nigeria in a case filed by the Process and Industrial Developments Company, (P&ID).

    Judge Knowles held that the award was obtained by fraud and that what had happened in the case was contrary to public policy.

    The court also declared that it did not find any merit in the charges of bribery levelled against a former Attorney-General of Lagos State, Mr Olasupo Shasore, SAN, who represented Nigeria in the arbitration.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in the case marked: CL-2019-000752, the Federal Government sought to overturn $6.6 billion arbitration awarded in favour of P&ID in 2017.

    The award had continued to accrue interest since then, rising to approximately $11 billion before the judgment.

    The dispute dated to 2010 when P&ID Limited entered into a gas supply and processing agreement with Nigeria, with plans to establish an Accelerated Gas Development project in Cross River State.

    The project never materialised, and P&ID subsequently accused Nigeria of breaching the contract terms.

    P&ID claimed Nigeria violated terms of its agreement by failing to provide gas for the power plant it wanted to build for the country.

    In 2015, P&ID won a judgment for a $10 billion compensation.

    This frustrated the construction of the Gas Project agreed to during the government of former president Umaru Yar’Adua and deprived P&ID the potential benefits expected from 20 years’ worth of gas supplies with “anticipated profits of $5 to $6 billion.”

    The arbitral tribunal unanimously decided that the Federal Government had repudiated the GSPA by failure to perform its obligations under the GSPA and ruled that P&ID was entitled to $6.6 billion in 2017.

    The fine, along with the interest, subsequently rose to $11.5 billion.

    Read Also: LASG to discipline 14 LASTMA officers over extortion

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan government reached an out-of-tribunal agreement for the payment of $850 million and passed on the disbursement to the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    But Buhari refused to pay the negotiated sum, set aside the settlement agreement and challenged the enforcement of the award before the English Commercial Court.

    However, the London court added $2.4 billion in interest making it $9 billion.

    Also, Shasore was accused of obstructing Nigeria’s legal proceedings against the British Virgin Islands-based company.

    Shasore was charged with allegations of negligence and inadequate due diligence in handling the case.

    In his defense, the ex-Lagos A-G maintained that he had done everything within his power to secure the best outcome for the country.

    Delivering the judgement, Justice Knowles ruled that the award was obtained by fraud.

    Knowles, in his verdict, stated, “As far as I am aware, Mr. Shasore, SAN, has not, in my judgment, been shown to be corrupt.

    “His actions are inconsistent with Nigeria’s theory that he was.

    “I add that in my view, Nigeria (and specifically Mr Abubakar Malami SAN, the former Attorney-General of the Federation) did not in truth believe Mr Shasore, SAN was corrupt.

    “On 21st November, 2017, Shasore, SAN was engaged by Nigeria to represent the Ministry of Power in a $2.4bn arbitration claim by Sunrise Power and Transmission Co.

    “His appointment was approved by Malami, SAN, on 6th March, 2018, and formally confirmed by Mr Malami, SAN, on 18th March, 2018,” he said.

    The judge cited several reasons for his decision, highlighting Shasore’s sound advice to Nigeria to investigate and obtain expert evidence, his assistance in succeeding in Nigerian court applications, his contribution to reducing settlement figures, and his vigorous challenges against P&ID during the liability hearing.

    (NAN)

  • P&ID case: Tinubu welcomes Nigeria’s victory

    P&ID case: Tinubu welcomes Nigeria’s victory

    President Bola Tinubu has applauded the judgement of the Business and Property Court in London, which ruled in Nigeria’s favour, quashing an over five-year litigation by a firm known as Process & Industrial Development (P&ID) Limited.

    P&ID had approached the court, seeking the enforcement of an earlier $11.5 billion arbitration award, which it obtained in 2017 from a private arbitration tribunal.

    The judgement however, delivered, on Monday, October 23, by Judge Robin Knowles of the Business and Property Court, quashed the claims by P&ID on the grounds that the initial judgment was obtained by fraud.

    Read Also: Nigeria wins bid as UK court quashes $11bn P&ID award

    In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, President Tinubu commended the UK Court for prioritizing the merits of the case above all other considerations.

    He said: “This landmark judgment proves conclusively that nation-states will 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.

    “Today’s 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 case dates back to a 2010 agreement wherein P&ID pledged to build a gas processing plant in Nigeria.

    However, the project never materialized, leading P&ID to sue for lost profits. The firm was granted the sizable award plus accumulated interest, which has since been a point of contention.

  • BREAKING: Nigeria wins bid as UK court quashes $11bn P&ID award

    BREAKING: Nigeria wins bid as UK court quashes $11bn P&ID award

    The Federal Government has won its claims against Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited.

    The judgment was delivered after five years of legal fireworks.

    A judgement delivered by Justice Robin Knowles of the Business and Property Court via email, on Monday held that P&ID obtained its multi-billion-dollar arbitration award against Nigeria by fraud.

    The Nation reports P&ID was awarded a 20-year contract in 2010, to construct and operate a gas processing plant in southern Nigeria, as part of a wider plan to exploit Nigeria’s abundant reserves of gas.

    Read Also: NSCDC arrests suspected gay in Bauchi for killing student

    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 has swelled with interest to over $11 billion beginning from March 20, 2013.

    With the interest rate fixed at seven percent amounting to $1 million a day, the potential payment had accumulated to over $11 billion before the verdict.

    Following the judgment, Nigeria applied for an extension of time and relief from sanctions.

    The application was granted by Ross Cranston, a judge of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales, in September 2020, thereby returning the case to arbitration.

    Nigeria had alleged that the gas deal was a scam conceived to defraud the country.

    Lawyers representing the federal government told the court that P&ID officials paid bribes to secure the contract.

    But P&ID denied the allegation and accused the Nigerian government of “false allegations and wild conspiracy theories.”

  • $11b suit: Nigeria, P&ID await London court’s judgment tomorrow

    $11b suit: Nigeria, P&ID await London court’s judgment tomorrow

    The Business and Property Courts of England and Wales sitting in London  is  set to deliver judgement  tomorrow in the case filed  by Nigeria seeking the dismissal of an $11billion arbitration award in favour of Process & Industrial Development Ltd.

    Justice Robin Knowles is scheduled to deliver judgement at 2pm,according to the courts’ cause list dated October 20.

    The court will decide whether Nigeria is liable to pay the money which the British Virgin Islands incorporated company calls compensation for alleged breach of a gas contract.

    A separate London court  first issued a $6.6billion arbitration award against Nigerian in January 2017 after the firm accused the Federal Government of reneging on an alleged   2010 contract  with  the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to  construct and operate a new gas processing facility in Calabar.

    The award,P&ID lawyers claim, has  grown to $11.4 billion on account of  interest.

    Nigeria approached the  Business and Property Courts praying it to  dismiss the award.

    Lawyers representing the Federal Government premised their case on the allegation that the purported contract was a product of dishonesty and manipulation engineered by the foreign firm.

    Specifically, Nigeria said P&ID  bribed certain government officials  to procure the purported contract  and to ensure that the country would not contest the arbitration vigorously.

    In September 2020, the English High Court held that  there was a ‘strong prima facie case’ that the contract was procured by bribes and that P&ID’s main witness in the arbitration gave perjured evidence.

    This was after Nigeria was able to provide  the court with  banking records from New York showing fund transfers to Nigerian government officials by  entities allegedly affiliated with P&ID, as well as evidence of large, unexplained cash withdrawals from a P&ID affiliated entity’s Nigerian bank account around the time the contract was signed.

    It was on that basis that the issues proceeded to a full hearing at the Business and Property Courts to determine whether the award should be set aside.

    Nigeria, according to the terms of the purported contract, was to supply natural gas  at no cost to P&ID’s facility while the company would construct and operate the facility.

    Read Also: Prophet seeks patience with Tinubu for peaceful, prosperous nation

    In practical terms the company was to  process the gas for the purpose of  removing  natural gas liquids and return lean gas to Nigeria at no cost.

    The understanding was that the lean gas so supplied would be suitable for use in power generation and other purposes.

    Nigeria insisted that the contract was based on an unsolicited proposal presented by P&ID.

    It also said no tender was conducted in respect of the project and the company even had no experience or assets in the gas sector to handle a contract of that magnitude.

    It also had no website. Only a few employees.

    Although the ‘agreement’ provided that the ‘contract’ would be governed by Nigerian law it curiously said whatever dispute that arose would be resolved through arbitration in London.

    The company launched the legal battle in August 2012 when it filed arbitration papers in London , accusing the Federal Government of repudiating  the contract .

    The size of the $6.6billion arbitration award plus interest of 7% per annum had raised questions in the international business community more so when the investor had not commenced construction of the project and ,by its own admission, had incurred  about only $40million on the contract.

    The genesis  of the ‘P&ID  contract’ could be traced to the Umaru  Yar’Adua administration’s initiative to exploit the vast  untapped gas reserves in the Niger Delta as part of the effort to  address the country’s  energy supply crisis.

    From the blues emerged  P&ID  with an alleged unsolicited proposal to build and operate a gas-processing plant near Calabar despite having never undertaken a project like that before.

    A government official soon emerged on the scene, worked on the contract wording and  recommended to the then  petroleum minister,the late  Rilwanu Lukman to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the company  in 2009.

    But the project never got off the ground.

    An official of the Federal Ministry of Justice told The Nation last night that the ministry was yet to receive formal notification of the judgement date.

    The official who does not want to be identified had been contacted to confirm the development.