P&ID: Buhari Celebrates UK’s Extension Of Time Judgment On $10bn Debt

 
The President Muhammadu Buhari is elated over the judgment by the UK Court granting Nigeria’s application for an extension of time and relief from sanctions in a $10 billion arbitration case with Process and Industrious Development Limited (P&ID).

The Presidency said on Friday that Buhari welcomed the decision of the court, being a major step in the fight to stop Nigeria from being cheated in the controversial gas contract that led to the $10bn debt awarded against the country.
 
“In our view, the judgment is right, just and provides a strong prima facie case that the fraudulent gas deal with P&ID and the subsequent judgment debt of $10bn against Nigeria was a clear attempt to cheat the country of billions of dollars by a company that had not invested one Naira in our countr”, the Presidency said.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, who said Buhari viewed the judgment as “a source of huge satisfaction”, quoted part of the court’s decision.

He quoted, ‘‘Nigeria has established a strong prima facie case that the Gas Supply and Processing (GSPA) was procured by bribes paid to insiders as part of a larger scheme to defraud Nigeria.
 
‘‘There is also a strong prima facie case that that (P&ID) main witness in the arbitration, Mr Quinn, gave a perjured evidence to the Tribunal, and that contrary to that evidence, P&ID was not in the position to perform the contract.’’
 
The Presidency added that it was delighted with the processes that led to the decision of the English Court, saying that it had “given relief to the Nigerian government to further protect our national assets from criminally-minded organisations and individuals.”

It noted further,  “The views of the UK court thus provide sufficient grounds for the Federal Government to go ahead and challenge the frauds perpetrated by the company and overturn the arbitration award.
 
“President Muhammadu Buhari therefore commends the team of lawyers who represented Nigeria in the matter with P&ID, and reassures all well-meaning Nigerians and the international community of his unwavering commitment to fight corruption in all its forms and manifestation.”

In 2010, P&ID signed a gas project contract with Nigeria.

However, the contract failed. The firm later approached a London Tribunal in 2015 to complain that the Federal Government breached the terms of the contract.

Two years later in 2017, the tribunal delivered judgment against Nigeria in the sum of $9.6bn as damages to be paid to P&ID, an amount that accumulated interest to $10bn.

Nigeria fought back through the UK’s court to seek an extension of time to present its case on how the whole transaction lacked transparency from the ontset.