P&ID Ltd, the Irish firm that
was awarded $9.6 billion in arbitration against Nigeria, says it will continue
its efforts to identify and seize Nigerian assets “to satisfy the debt”.
The company said if the Nigerian
government is serious about negotiating a settlement, it must do so in “good
faith” and stop the campaign of “baseless slander and sham investigations”
against its founders.
P&ID had gone on arbitration
against Nigeria in 2012 following the failure of gas and supply processing
agreement (GSPA) contract it signed with the ministry of petroleum resources in
January 2010.
In May 2015, Nigeria agreed to
pay $850 million in settlement to avoid a liability award but did not follow
through.
In July 2015, the country was
found liable by the arbitration tribunal for the failure of the project.
In January 2017, P&ID got an
award of $6.6 billion for “loss of income” over the 20-year lifespan of the
project and $2.3 billion in interests.
Nigeria’s efforts to stop the
enforcement have failed so far, with a British court recently dismissing
Nigeria’s objections, but the federal government has vowed to go on appeal,
describing the project as a fraud and launching a probe of those said to be
involved in the “scam”.
Demonstrators stormed the UK high
commission in Abuja on Monday demanding a reversal of the judgment.
In the short statement, sent by
e-mail to TheCable on Monday, a spokesman for P&ID said: “If the Nigerian
government is serious about a willingness to negotiate then it must do so in
good faith. The means that the Buhari Administration must acknowledge the
reality of the rulings of the independent Tribunal and the English Commercial
court, desist from its campaign of baseless slander and sham investigations
against P&ID and it’s founders and instead appoint an authorized party to
enter into real negotiations. The coming days will tell if the Nigerian
government is serious, or if this is simply another delay tactic. In the
meantime, P&ID will continue its efforts to identify and seize Nigerian
assets to satisfy the debt.”
Nigeria’s foreign reserves, most
of which are domiciled with US and UK banks, as well as oil tankers from the
country are at the risk of being seized by P&ID.
Buildings and other physical
assets belonging to Nigeria abroad are also at risk.
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