Nigeria has secured a landmark
victory in its pursuit to overturn a $10 billion judgement awarded against it
in a case against Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID).
In the judgment delivered on
Thursday, Ross Cranston, a judge of the Business and Property Courts of England
and Wales, granted Nigeria’s application for an extension of time and relief
from sanctions.
The
case will either go back to arbitration based on the new evidence or both
parties will now settle out of court.
“It is not my function at this preliminary stage to decide whether a fraud took place,” Cranston said.
“However, it has been necessary
to consider a considerable amount of the material to decide firstly, whether,
as Nigeria contended, there is a prima facie case of fraud and how strong that
case is, and secondly, the steps Nigeria took to investigate the alleged fraud
from late 2015.
“Both matters are relevant to the
issues of whether Nigeria’s claim is barred altogether and whether time should
be extended in its favour and relief from sanctions granted.”
On January 31, 2017, a tribunal
had ruled that Nigeria should pay P&ID $6.6 billion as damages, as well as
pre- and post-judgment interest at 7 percent.
The current outstanding amount is
estimated at $10 billion.
The federal government had
approached the court to establish that the contract was awarded on illegal
terms.
Nigeria’s lawyers told the court
in July that P&ID officials paid bribes to get the contract.
P&ID reportedly entered a gas
supply and processing agreement with Nigeria in 2010.
Claiming Nigeria breached the terms
of the contract, it took a legal recourse and secured an arbitral award against
the country.
Nigeria has been making moves to
overturn the judgement and has gotten court clearance to request documents from
a P&ID stakeholder and review bank statements of ex-President Goodluck
Jonathan, Diezani Alison-Madueke and Rilwanu Lukman, former ministers of
petroleum.
The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), on August 18, arraigned James Nolan, a Briton, and six
companies over their alleged involvement in the contract.
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