The Federal government has commenced moves for the extradition of Mr. Brendan Cahill the co-founder of Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) an an Irish firm and his son Mr. Adam Quinn, over role in a 20 year Gas Supply and Processing Agreement (GSPA) entered in 2010 between FGN (through the Ministry of Petroleum Resources) and P & ID in respect of an accelerated gas development project in Nigeria’s OMLs 67 and 123.
P&ID never began the construction of the project facility although it alleges it incurred about $40 Million in preliminary expenses.
Irish authorities and AIB are being drawn into a high-profile international legal dispute between Nigeria and a company founded by Irish investors that is claiming $9.6 billion (€10.8 billion) for a failed contract.
Nigerian prosecutors said they would seek the extradition of two men from the Republic to Nigeria. They also said they were seeking information about funds sent to a Nigerian government lawyer that were transferred through AIB.
The African country is embroiled in a fight with Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID), which was founded by Irish investors Michael Quinn and Brendan Cahill, over a failed 2010 deal to develop a gas-processing plant. Nigeria now alleges the contract was won corruptly and the project was never meant to succeed. P&ID denies any wrongdoing.
The Nigerian anti-corruption agency has expanded its investigation into the deal by making formal requests for assistance from Irish law enforcement and the UK’s National Crime Agency, Ibrahim Magu, the head of the Nigerian agency, said in an interview with Bloomberg in London. He was one of more than a dozen government officials to speak to the news agency on Tuesday.
P&ID Scandal: Court admits ex-director Petroleum Resources to N10m bail
The latest developments may draw the Government into the dispute. An Irish citizen who worked for Mr Quinn has been arrested and charged in Nigeria and remains in custody, according to lead prosecutor Bala Sanga.
P&ID co-founder Mr Cahill and Mr Quinn’s son Adam will “in due course be charged,” he said, adding that he would seek the extradition of both men from Ireland to Nigeria. Mr Cahill and Mr Quinn didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
Nigerian prosecutors also said they had evidence of two bank transfers totalling $20,000 (€18,250) made by Dublin-based Industrial Consultants (International) Ltd – part of the P&ID group of companies – to Grace Taiga, a Nigerian government lawyer who oversaw the award of the gas plant contract. The payments, in 2017 and 2018, were made from an Industrial Consultants account at AIB and were purportedly for “medical costs,” Mr Sanga said in the interview.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.