The federal government has
deposited the sum of $200 million as bond with a London court in the $9.6
billion judgement against Nigeria in its case with Process & Industrial
Development (P&ID) Limited.
In September, Christopher
Butcher, judge of a commercial court in London, ordered Nigeria to deposit the
sum while granting the country’s request for a stay of execution in the case.
We previously reported that
Nigeria could still escape the $9.6 billion award in favour of P&ID if $200
million was deposited in 60 days.
In a statement issued on
Thursday, Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation, confirmed that
the deposit has been made.
He said the payment was done
after approval by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Malami said the Nigerian legal
team is still working to have the judgement overturned, adding that the country
“does not plan to forfeit the guaranteed sum to the High Court in UK”.
“The Federal Republic of Nigeria
today provided the English High Court with a bank guarantee as a security in
compliance with the Court order,” the statement read.
“This variation in security,
which was proposed by Nigeria as an alternative solution during a procedural
hearing on 22nd November, has been accepted by the Court and P&ID. The
deadline was extended by the Court to the 28th November.
“The provision of today’s
security is a positive step forward for Nigeria to overturn the injustice of
the US$9.6 billion award, which was a direct result of fraud and corruption.
“Over the last few weeks,
investigations have revealed a very serious fraud, bringing into question both
the legitimacy of the GSPA (gas supply and processing agreement) and the
subsequent award itself.
“As a result of these
investigations, the Federation has recently expanded its legal team, which will
now enable us to launch in full our challenge against the fraudulently procured
agreement and award.”
P&ID reportedly entered a gas
supply and processing agreement with Nigeria in 2010. The company claimed
Nigeria breached the terms of the contract.
It then took a legal recourse,
securing an arbitral award against the country, which has accumulated to $9.6
billion.
In September, a federal high
court in Abuja ordered the forfeiture of the company’s assets in the country to
the federal government. Some individuals linked to the company were also
convicted of fraud and economic sabotage.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com