By- Abba Hamisu Sani
Africa-Press – Nigeria. This time around is the turn for Nigerians to celebrate a victory that saves the country from being duped by a Foreign Company that claimed false damages due to unfulfilled contract terms as claimed.
It could be recalled that on Monday,23 October this year ( 2023), a Commercial court in the United Kingdom rendered a verdict that significantly altered the course of a protracted and complex legal battle between Nigeria and Process Industrial Developments (P&ID), a British Virgin Islands-based Company in what can only be seen as a victory for Nigeria.
Justice Robin Knowles, presiding over the case, made a ruling that set aside an earlier arbitral award against Nigeria.
The earlier award in favor of P&ID was a staggering sum of 6.6 billion dollars alongside a seven percent interest rate, as damages to be paid by the Federal Government of Nigeria
The implications of this ruling are profound, as it potentially prevented the British Virgin Island-based company from seizing foreign assets owned by Nigeria
How it started between Nigeria and P&ID
In 2010, during the Yar’adua /Jonathan administration, Nigeria entered into a gas supply and processing agreement (GSPA), with P&ID, to develop a gas processing plant in Cross River State to help cut down gas flaring and increase the availability of gas for other national uses such as power generation.
Flaws and fraud in the contracting process would eventually be exposed.It was later exposed that the Nigerian Ministry of Justice which is saddled to be part of every government agreement was not carried along and sensitive government document found their way out of confidential government circles into the P&ID meeting rooms
Eventually , the GSPA project never see the light of the day, and the P&ID alleged that Nigeria had breached the terms of the contract. This dispute culminated in a protracted legal battle that was taken to arbitration in 2022, with a senior lawyer Oladipo Shasore Senior Advocate of Nigeria who was the former Attorney-General of Lagos State representing Nigeria’s interests.
Lack of commitment from the Nigerian site was about to cause the country a huge damage
The ramifications of such enormous sum leaving Nigeria’s coffers would have nothing short of an economic catastrophe .Even though Nigeria has 90 days window to appeal the ruling in 2017 ,it didn’t take it until the time lapsed and a summery no-contest judgment was issued against Nigeria
Consequently ,Nigeria seeking to be allowed to re-enter a dispute of the award ,initiated legal proceedings in both the United Kingdom and Nigeria to prove that project was fraudulent from conception and that even the arbitration process was not spared from corruption and manipulation to favor P&ID
EFCC hails the dismissal of $11.5bn judgment against Nigeria
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is the Nigerian Agency saddled with the responsibility of investigating financial frauds and the prosecution of such allegations against Individuals and corporate bodies.
The Commission has applauded the dismissal of the arbitrary $6.6billion judgment against Nigeria, won by the Process & Industry Development, P&ID Ltd, over a failed 2010 deal to develop a gas processing plant in the country.
The Anti-graft Agency said it had been embroiled in a legal tussle with Process & Industrial Developments over a $9bn judgment awarded against Nigeria, which has now risen to $10bn.
The Out of Court Settlement Initiative
An initial out-of-tribunal agreement for the payment of $850 million was reached by a previous administration of President Goodluck Jonathan and the disbursement was passed on to the administration of the immediate past President Muhammad Buhari who kicked at the idea of paying the negotiated sum, set aside the settlement agreement and challenged the enforcement of the award before the English Commercial Court.
But the London court added $2.4 billion in interest making it $9bn. The judge granted Nigeria’s request for a stay on any asset seizures while its legal challenge is pending but ordered it to pay $200 million to the court within 60 days to ensure the stay. It also must pay some court costs to P&ID within 14 days.
The decision of the court converted an arbitration award held by P&ID to a legal judgment, which would allow the British Virgin Islands-based firm to try to seize international assets.
Irked by the readiness and hollowness of the claims of P&ID, Nigeria began investigating the company through the EFCC and found evidence of two bank transfers totaling $20,000 made by Dublin-based Industrial Consultants (International) Ltd. — part of the P&ID group of companies — to Grace Taiga, a Nigerian government lawyer who oversaw the award of the gas plant contract.
The EFCC, challenging the payments through its counsel, Bala Sanga, said the payments, in 2017 and 2018, were made from an Industrial Consultants account at Allied Irish Banks and were purportedly for “medical costs”. Based on this new evidence, which the EFCC considered to be ‘seismic’, Nigeria filed fraud challenges against P&ID but the company has failed to respond to the charges. Trials of key suspects allegedly involved in the fraud are ongoing at various levels of court in Abuja.
Sanga, in some of his appearances in court for the EFCC, had pointed out that, “It is increasingly clear that this was a highly orchestrated scam”. The Commission had also pointed out that, P&ID’s lawyers have not been able to prove that it legitimately, and lawfully, secured a 20-year contract worth hundreds of millions of Naira.
“The company has yet to even demonstrate that they had the credentials in the first place to carry out such a complex arrangement, nor provide any evidence of tangible investment or landholding. The award in question, which amounts to over eight times Nigeria’s national health budget, could be used for far more important, and genuine, public issues at the current time….”, EFCC said.
The EFCC further argued that, Nigeria does not even have the capacity to pay the judgment debt. Nigeria’s international assets, oil cargoes, P&ID were supposed to be seized, if Nigeria lost the appeal.
Nigerian assets are now safe home and abroad
With the Monday judgment Nigerian assets are safe both at home and abroad.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said two British nationals, James Richard Nolan and Adam Quinn (at large), were, on October 18, 2021, re-arraigned before Justice D.U. Kokorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja for their alleged complicity in the controversial Process and Industrial Development gas processing contract, leading to the $9.6bn arbitral award to P&ID Limited by a United Kingdom commercial court.
The defendants, both directors of Goidel Resources Limited, a Designated Non-Financial Institution (DNFI) and ICIL Limited, were docked on a 32 count- charge bordering on money laundering. Their trial still continues..
The Nigerian National Assembly stands
The decision of the House of Representatives to probe the Process & Industrial Developments saga where Nigeria just got a judicial reprieve that saved it $11 billion should ignite a radical review of the country’s procurement practices. Similarly, it demands thorough forensic and criminal investigations into all concession contracts and deals entered into by the government and its agencies in recent years.
The P&ID saga exposes the depth of corruption and lack of patriotism by Nigeria’s officials and consultants, including lawyers.
Kama Nkemkanma is a House of representative member.He urged the House to probe all the contract and concessions.The legislature said the $6.6 billion Gas Supply and Processing Agreement with the shadowy British Virgin Island firm was handled with shoddiness and corruption.
The legislature stated this recently in Abuja
Beyond his elation at the reprieve, therefore, President Bola Tinubu should order a criminal probe into similar agreements, judgements, and others currently in litigation. As Muhammadu Buhari, whose government resisted pressure to settle with P&ID and fought a stout battle in UK courts, pointed out, Nigeria would have lost over $15 billion, almost half of its external reserves, to the dishonest company and its allies.
Reforms should therefore be rolled out to prevent such corruption. For years, many ‘briefcase’ companies, with the active collusion of Nigerian public office holders, civil servants, consultants, and lawyers, have savaged the treasury.
However this success indicated that Nigeria can struggle and overcome it’s problems through persistence and steadfastness as it spent five years Pursuing this case in a British commercial Court.
If this case was lost it would have required that schools not be built,nurses not be trained ,roads not be repaired ,to apay a handful of contractors ,lawyers and allies for a project that never broke ground.For this effort Former President Buhari’s leadership deserves to be pressed .
But it’s yet not over as the company could still appeal the judgment .Now it’s up to the Attorney General and the Minister of Justice,Lateef Fagbemi to be diligent in tackle whatever will follow the verdict.
He should be vigilant to make sure that the Ministry of Justice officials who connive with contractors in short changing governments are identified and brought to book.
Government should also make all contract award processes public through advertising them and the details involved for scrutiny by experts , Civil Society and Media.
The National Assembly members also have responsibilities through oversight functions to ensure that all contract awards are inline with due process and are executed within stipulated period without compromising the quality and standards.
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