UPDATED : UK Court Grants Nigeria Relief To Overturn P&ID $10b Judgment

A United Kingdom High Court has granted the application filed by Nigeria, seeking relief to pursue the possible overturning of a $10billion fine awarded in favor of the Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID), by a Tribunal court.

A Judge of the High Court of Justice, Queens Bench Division Commercial Court, Ross Cranston, passed the verdict on Friday, having noted that the federal government had a strong evidence of corruption against the P&ID contract.

Recall that in 2010, the P&ID firm, entered a contract to carry out a gas project in Nigeria, but it eventually did not materialize.

In 2015, the firm later approached a London Tribunal, accusing the federal government of alleged breach of contract.

In its judgement in 2017, the tribunal ordered the federal government to pay P&ID $6.6 billion as damages, with additional interests bringing the cumulative monies to $10 billion.

Meanwhile, the current Nigerian Government had been seeking to overturn the fine, adding that there were illegalities in the P&ID contract.

On his part, the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami SAN, had maintained that the P&ID issues were fraudulent from the onset, and void of standard operating procedures.

“The whole hitches of saga associated with P&ID was indeed a product of corruption, fraud and non-compliance with processes and procedure,” Malami said in an International Conference on African Arbitration.

Moreso, in what seems like a sigh of relief for the government, Ross Cranston, granted Nigeria’s prayers for an extension of time and relief from sanctions.

The judge observed that Nigeria had provided evidence of fraud in the P&ID contract, and as such, merits the application.

THE WHISTLER understands that “prima facie evidence of corruption “ is a strong choice of words and puts P&ID in a weak position in the case.

The verdict on the application partly reads:

“With that as background I find persuasive Mr Howard’s submission that the fairness
factor does have an impact in challenges where there is strong prima facie evidence of
fraud, certainly of the through-going character alleged in this case.

“Not only is the integrity of the arbitration system threatened, but that of the court as well, since to enforce an award in such circumstances would implicate it in the fraudulent scheme.

“The delay in this case is extraordinary and weighs heavily on the side of the balance
against an extension.

“In my view, however, other factors bring it down in favour of an extension.

“As I have explained, the delay is not in my view the result of a deliberate decision made
because of some perceived advantage, and in all the circumstances Nigeria has acted
reasonably.

“Given the strong prima facie case of fraud which I have concluded Nigeria has established, the position is along the lines of that identified in Terna, where Popplewell J identified the substantial injustice an applicant would sufer in respect of the underlying dispute if deprived of the opportunity of making a challenge should an extension of time be refused…

“For the reasons I have given, P&ID has contributed to the delay, and it will not by
reason of the delay suffer iremediable prejudice in addition to the mere loss of time if the application is permitted to proceed.

“Although not a primary factor, fairness in the
broadest sense favours an extension in this case.

“For the reasons given, I grant Nigeria’s applications for an extension of time and relief from sanctions.”