The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has lauded the recent decision by United Kingdom Judge, Robin Knowles of the Business and Property Court in London, to dismiss an $11.5 billion judgment against Nigeria, which had been awarded to Process & Industry Development (P&ID) Ltd. The judgment stemmed from a failed 2010 deal aimed at developing a gas processing plant in Nigeria.
Judge Knowles, in a landmark ruling on Monday, October 23, 2023, declared that the $11.5 billion award had been obtained through fraudulent means and was against public policy. The EFCC had been entangled in a protracted legal battle with P&ID over a $9 billion judgment initially awarded against Nigeria, which subsequently escalated to $11.5 billion.
P&ID had alleged that Nigeria violated the terms of their Gas Supply and Processing Agreement (GSPA) by failing to provide the agreed-upon gas supply for a power plant. The failure to deliver on this agreement, according to P&ID, thwarted the construction of the Gas Project and deprived them of anticipated profits of $5 to $6 billion over a 20-year period.
The arbitral tribunal previously ruled in 2017 that Nigeria had repudiated the GSPA, resulting in a $6.6 billion award, which had since accumulated interest to reach the $11.5 billion figure.
An earlier administration had negotiated an out-of-tribunal agreement to pay $850 million to P&ID. However, the subsequent administration, under President Muhammad Buhari, opted to challenge the enforcement of the award before the English Commercial Court, where the sum rose to $9 billion, inclusive of interest.
While Nigeria secured a stay on asset seizures during its ongoing legal challenge, it was required to make a payment of $200 million to the court within 60 days, along with covering certain court costs for P&ID within 14 days. The ruling effectively transformed the arbitration award into a legal judgment, potentially enabling P&ID to pursue the seizure of international assets.
Suspicions regarding the validity of P&ID’s claims led the Nigerian government to investigate the company through the EFCC. The EFCC uncovered evidence of two bank transfers totaling $20,000 from Dublin-based Industrial Consultants (International) Ltd., a P&ID subsidiary, to Grace Taiga, a Nigerian government lawyer overseeing the gas plant contract. These transfers, dated 2017 and 2018, were purportedly labeled as “medical costs.”
Relying on this evidence, Nigeria filed fraud charges against P&ID. However, the company has yet to respond to these allegations, and trials of key suspects connected to the fraud are ongoing in Abuja’s various court levels.
Bala Sanga, representing the EFCC, asserted that this case was a meticulously orchestrated scam. The Commission contended that P&ID had failed to demonstrate the legitimacy and lawfulness of securing a multi-million Naira, 20-year contract. The EFCC further emphasized that Nigeria lacked the financial capacity to meet the judgment debt, asserting that Nigeria’s international assets and oil cargoes were earmarked for seizure if the appeal was unsuccessful.
Following Judge Knowles’ ruling, Nigeria’s assets remain secure both domestically and abroad.
In a separate development, two British nationals, James Richard Nolan and Adam Quinn, were re-arraigned on October 18, 2021, before Justice D.U. Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja. The individuals, directors of Goidel Resources Limited and ICIL Limited, face a 32-count charge related to money laundering in connection with the controversial P&ID gas processing contract that led to the $9.6 billion arbitral award by a UK commercial court. Their trial continues.
