The federal government says it is
ready to negotiate with Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID)
to avoid paying the $9 billion fine a British court imposed on it.
On August 16, 2019, the court
gave P&ID (click here to download full judgement) the go-ahead to seize
Nigerian assets worth $9 billion as a result of the failure of the government
to fulfill its end of a deal it entered into with the company.
In 2010, P&ID had entered
into a 20-year gas and supply processing agreement (GSPA) with the federal
government to build a state-of-the-art gas processing facility in Calabar,
Cross River state.
The deal required the government
to build a gas supply pipeline to P&ID facility.
But the organisation which said
after spending several years preparing for the project, the Nigerian government
failed to build a pipeline or secure supply of gas as stipulated in the
agreement, headed to the court.
Speaking on NTA breakfast
programme on Thursday, Lai Mohammed, minister of information, said the
government knows the consequences of such payment on the economy, and is ready
to negotiate with P&ID and find a way out.
“We’re leaving no stone unturned
to resolve this matter. We are ready to sit down with them and negotiate what
is reasonable to all parties. You don’t inflict this kind of injury on a
country and its people,” he said.
“First eleven would be engaged to
take over the case. We are making wide consultations on the matter. Nigerians
can be rest assured that everything is being done to make sure that the country
is not shortchanged in this case.”
He said the government would do
everything within its power to ensure that those involved are exposed and
prosecuted.
“The contract itself was not
justifiable and I know that the EFCC, Ministry of Justice and other bodies
investigating the contract will come up with facts on how the whole thing was
done. The government will not sleep until this matter is resolved in a manner
that will not injure the interest of Nigeria,” he said.
“The P&ID have the resources
to hire the best PR agencies in the world to spread this falsehood. And without
internal collaborators, external conspirators will not succeed. We will find
those involved in this scam, either inside or outside government. The Ministry
of Justice has enough experts to know that this would not be in the interest of
our country. On the surface it was a scam ab initio and the actors knew where
they were going.”
He said the country had learnt
lessons, explaining how the government of President Muhammadu Buhari consulted
widely before signing the African
Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
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