After five years of legal battles, Nigeria has emerged victorious against Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited in a London court.
A UK judge, Monday dismissed the $6.6billion arbitrary judgment against Nigeria of which interests has ballooned to $11.5billion, won by briefcase company Process & Industry Development (P&ID) Ltd, over a failed 2010 deal to develop a gas processing plant.
The court upheld Nigeria’s argument that the gas processing contract was obtained through fraud.
The ruling was delivered by Justice Robin Knowles of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales via email.
P&ID had entered into an agreement with Nigeria in 2010 to construct a gas processing plant in Calabar, Cross River State.
However, P&ID alleged that the Nigerian government did not fulfil its obligations under the contract, leading to its failure.
In response, P&ID sought legal redress and secured an arbitral award against Nigeria in January 2017, demanding $6.6 billion in damages along with pre- and post-judgment interest.
Nigeria claimed that the gas deal was a fraudulent scheme designed to defraud the country and accused P&ID officials of paying bribes to secure the contract.
In a March trial, Nigeria argued that the contract was procured through dishonest means, including bribery and perjury.
The case was subsequently sent back to arbitration, and the award has now risen to $11 billion due to accumulated interest.
P&ID has consistently denied Nigeria’s allegations and criticised the Nigerian government for making “false allegations and wild conspiracy theories.”
