Former President Muhammadu Buhari has praised Nigeria’s triumph in the $11 billion Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited arbitration award case as a significant achievement following a long-fought battle.
Gatekeepers News reports that on Monday, Nigeria succeeded in halting the enforcement of the $11 billion arbitration award in favor of P&ID after over five years of legal dispute.
Justice Robin Knowles, of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales, delivered a judgment by email, upholding Nigeria’s argument that the award was obtained through fraudulent means.
In a statement titled ‘A Matter of Principle,’ Buhari highlighted the importance of the victory, noting that it would have cost Nigerians significantly in terms of basic amenities if the arbitration dispute had been lost.
“We won, and all decent people can sleep easier as a result. Justice Robin Knowles said Nigeria had been the victim of a monstrous fraud. But it was a close-run thing,” Buhari said.
Buhari explained that ordinary Nigerians were not responsible for the decisions that led to the arbitration case. Losing the case would have resulted in the diversion of funds from crucial projects and services.
“We won, and all decent people can sleep easier as a result. Justice Robin Knowles said Nigeria had been the victim of a monstrous fraud. But it was a close-run thing,” Buhari said.
“But ordinary Nigerians never took the decisions that ended up before Justice Knowles. Had Nigeria lost, it would have required schools not to be built, nurses not to be trained and roads not to repaired, on an epic scale, to pay a handful of contractors, lawyers and their allies – for a project that never broke ground.”
The former president revealed that, amidst demands for Nigeria to pay the arbitration award, he entrusted the late Abba Kyari, who served as his chief of staff at the time, and Abubakar Malami, the former attorney-general of the federation, to explore avenues for a fair hearing.
“Nigeria was in court in London, trying to talk down liability and costs. Back at home, fixers were looking to work out a quiet settlement. This is often the way. A lot of contracts end up in dispute,” Buhari said.
“People, including out of work ex-British Cabinet Minister Priti Patel, were queuing up to insist we paid, or risk Nigeria becoming an untrustworthy trade pariah.
“It was clear that far from the whole story had been told. I tasked Abba Kyari, my chief of-staff and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, with finding a way, even at that late stage and despite so much conflicting advice, to get us a fair hearing.
“We began to find a huge amount of evidence, not all of which Justice Knowles was to accept. But he agreed that P&ID had paid bribes.
“He agreed that one of P&ID’s founders had committed perjury. And he agreed that P&ID had somehow found in its possession a steady supply of Nigeria’s privileged internal legal documents, outlining our plans, strategies and problems.”
Buhari emphasised the importance of following legal processes to resolve disputes and suggested that the judiciary can satisfactorily address disputes without resorting to extra-judicial measures.
He also underscored the need for enhanced transparency in awarding contracts in both the public and private sectors.
“My own view is that this whole, sorry affair shows how important it is to follow the legal process in resolving a dispute,” Buhari said.
“My own view is that this whole, sorry affair shows how important it is to follow the legal process in resolving a dispute,” Buhari said.
“It shows that given time and opportunity for each side to present their case, the temple of justice can satisfactorily resolve all disputes without resort to extra-judicial measures.
“It was definitely worth the struggle: this was an attempted heist of historic proportions, an attempt to steal from the treasury a third of Nigeria’s foreign reserves,” he added
“But even at this moment, we should note what the English judge cautioned. The arbitration process in London ‘was a shell that got nowhere near the truth’.
“We need better contracts, in the public and private sector. And we need greater transparency: the reality is that, had P&ID not conjured up quite such an outlandish ransom, they may have found themselves in the same place as the myriad other invisible contractors who all too often quietly take Nigeria for many millions in out of court settlements.
“Sterner sanctions are indicated for Nigerian public officials who have been proven to connive with foreign criminals to defraud our country.
“Nigeria has won this battle with corruption, but the war is far from over.”
