Nigeria records another victory as UK Court fines P&ID £1.5m

By Andrew Orolua

Nigeria has recorded another landmark victory in its bid to set aside a $10 billion judgment debt awarded against her by Arbitration Panel in 2016 in favour of Process & Industrial Development (P&ID).

The second victory came on Thursday as British Court issued an order directing P&ID to make an interim payment of more than £1.5 million within 21 days to cover legal costs incurred by Nigeria in getting the court to allow her files court processes outside the time provided by the law.

Only last week, the court had granted Nigeria’s application seeking permission to challenge the $10 billion arbitration award obtained by P&ID well outside the normal time limits.

However, proceedings on Thursday went the way of Nigeria, as the court which sat to decide procedural and costs issues relating to Nigeria’s applications ruled in her favour.

“Cranston J ordered P&ID to make an interim payment of more than £1.5 million within 21 days to cover legal costs the FRN incurred as part of their successful application for the extension of time to challenge the arbitration award and procedural hearing earlier in the year”,

Dr Umar Gwandu, spokesperson to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN) who disclosed this, added that a case management conference to determine the full trial window was scheduled to take place after November 2020.

“This is another crucial win for Nigeria in our ongoing fight against the vulture-fund-backed P&ID.

We are pleased that the English Courts have taken our fraud challenge seriously, and awarded us a substantial interim payment in respect of our successful application for an extension of time to challenge the award.

“This is a significant blow for P&ID, who continue to attempt to delay the process.

“To date, P&ID and its financial backer VR Capital have not produced a single document or credible witness to challenge the FRN’s fraud evidence.

READ ALSO: UK court to consider Nigeria’s challenge on P&ID’s $10bn award

Instead, they continue to resort to disseminating misleading claims, while taking every step possible to delay or obstruct our investigations across multiple jurisdictions”, the statement read in part.

It noted that the federal government remains firmly committed to overturning the injustice of the $10 billion award, and will not rest until justice is secured for the people of Nigeria, no matter how long it takes.

The statement added that investigations into the GSPA are ongoing, and that more truth will be revealed over the coming months.