Business and Property Court in London has fixed October 23 to deliver verdict in a case between the Federal Government of Nigeria and Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Ltd.
Gatekeepers News reports that the judgment will be handed down by Judge Robin Knowles.
P&ID had entered into an agreement with Nigeria in 2010 to build a gas processing plant in Calabar, Cross River state, but the company said the deal collapsed because the Nigerian government did not fulfill its end of the bargain.
Maintaining that Nigeria breached the terms of the contract, P&ID took a legal recourse and secured an arbitral award against the country.
On January 31, 2017, a tribunal ruled that Nigeria should pay P&ID $6.6 billion as damages, as well as pre-and post-judgment interest at 7 percent.
Following the judgement, Nigeria applied for an extension of time and relief from sanctions.
The application was granted by Ross Cranston, a judge of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales, in September 2020.
Nigeria countered the gas deal as a fraudulent scheme, claiming that P&ID officials resorted to bribery to secure the contract. However, P&ID vehemently denied these allegations and accused the Nigerian government of propagating “false allegations and wild conspiracy theories.”
In a March trial, Nigeria further alleged that the contract was obtained through dishonest means, including bribery and perjury. They contended that the arbitration award, now escalated to $11 billion due to accrued interests, should be invalidated.
In September, there were reports that P&ID representatives were actively seeking negotiations with the federal government for a potential out-of-court settlement. This development was driven by indications that Nigeria might obtain a favorable outcome in its legal challenge against the arbitral award. These efforts included reaching out to senior officials of the ministry of justice to influence President Bola Tinubu, who reportedly believes that P&ID’s case against Nigeria lacks merit.
