$9.6bn judgment debt:Presidency summons emergency meeting

.As CSOs storms British, Irish embassies, demand reversal of judgment

.Whereabouts of Grace Taiga, central negotiator of P&ID contract unknown

Vice President Yemi Osinbanjo on Monday held an emergency meeting to receive updates from lawyers to the Federal Government on the way forward over the controversial $9.6 billion judgment debt against Nigeria delivered by a British court.

Ministers at the meeting were the Finance, Budget and National Planning Minister, Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed and the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Silva.

Others were the Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Festus Keyamo, Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Melee Kyari, the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.

The strategic meeting, according to an anonymous source, was informed by a directive from President Muhammadu Buhari directing the Vice President to meet with the Economic Management Team (EMT) and weigh the options available to the Federal Government in over-turning the judgment.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, however, declined to brief journalists on the outcome of the meeting.

It was however gathered that the meeting which also had in attendance Nigerian lawyers, including the British lawyer based in the United Kingdom, who is handling the matter is to receive an update from the government lawyers over the case on what the next steps the Federal Government needs to take.

“We were summoned in respect of the judgment. We are looking at ways to review the judgment,’’ an anonymous source confirmed.

Meanwhile, members of a coalition of civil society groups on Monday in Abuja besieged the United Kingdom and Irish embassies demanding for the review of the $9.6 billion judgment debt against Nigeria by a United Kingdom court.

President of the group, Etuk Williams and Secretary-General, Abubakar Ibrahim, who respectively, led the protest, vowed that they would occupy the United Kingdom and Irish embassies for the next one week until the judgment is set aside.

While describing the judgment as a travesty of justice, disrespect to the sovereignty of the Nigeria, the protesters called on the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to call the British court to order.

‘’This move is an international conspiracy are against Nigeria. This judgment will ruin Nigeria.

“We have come to say that we will not submit to slavery. We believe in justice, $9.6bn in UK is a fraud. That judgment will inflict pain on over 200 million Nigerian people and we cannot take that.

“We are ready to occupy this place for another one week. We will continue to occupy British and Irish embassies until justice is done. This judgment must be reversed,’’ Williams said.

He added that the $9.6 billion is equivalent to N3.5 trillion when converted, adding that the amount will gulp 20 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign reserves.

“We recognise and appreciate the cordial relationship that has existed between the Britain and Nigerian governments. We urge the parties to review the contract and negotiate the payment awarded against Nigeria,” leader of the protesters stated.

In the meantime, the whereabouts of a former Director of Legal in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Grace Taiga, one of the key negotiators of the P&ID agreement, remains unknown.

An anonymous source at the EFCC confirmed that detectives of the anti-graft agency have not been able to trace her whereabouts, adding that “we need her assistance. She superintended over the gas supply pipeline agreement six months to her retirement.

“So far, detectives have discovered that the gas supply pipeline agreement was signed on January 11, 2010 when Yar’Adua was already in coma. There is no evidence of presentation to the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

“They took advantage of Yar’Adua’s illness. Even ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, who took over as acting President cannot say much about it because the agreement, which was done in a suspicious manner, was limited to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

“We are probing clues that Lukman’s signature might have been forged for the deal. He was a meticulous and an experienced international stakeholder in OPEC. Those who worked with him expressed doubts that he would sign such an agreement without FEC approval.

“We are suspecting a case of forgery. We will do forensic analysis of all relevant documents.’’

The Daily Times recalls that a British Court on August 16 awarded the judgment authorising a firm, Process and Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID) to seize Nigerian assets anywhere in the world to the value of $9.6 billion for contract default.

The firm entered into an oil deal with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in 2010, during the administration of the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua.

President Muhammadu Buhari has since the development, ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the police to probe the criminal conspiracy behind the failed contract.

The government said the contractor, P&ID did not execute the job it claimed and the contract was signed “in an underhand manner.