P&ID: AG, FG vows to overturn $9.6bn award after UK court ruling
P&ID: AG, FG vows to overturn $9.6bn award after UK court ruling
P&ID: AG, FG vows to overturn $9.6bn award after UK court ruling
The Presidency said the judgment by the United Kingdom court granting Nigeria’s application for an extension of time and relief from sanctions in a $10bn arbitration case with P&ID has given the Federal Government some relief.

A British court on Friday granted the Federal Government’s request for more time to challenge the final arbitral award worth $10bn issued by a London arbitration tribunal in favour of a British Virgin Islands firm, Process and Industrial Development.

The judgment came as a boost to government’s efforts to have the three and a half years’ old award set aside.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, stated the Presidency’s stance in a statement, titled “Presidency welcomes judgment by UK court on P&ID.”

In welcoming the judgment, Shehu said in the Presidency’s view, it was “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 country.”

The statement read in part, “On the arbitration award, it is a source of huge satisfaction that the UK court, among others, had ruled that:

“’Nigeria has established a strong prima facie case that the Gas Supply and Processing 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 the (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 expresses delight with the processes that led to this outcome in the English Court, noting that it has given relief to the Nigerian government to further protect our national assets from criminally-minded organisations and individuals.

“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.”

P&ID has however reacted to Friday’s judgment of the London court permitting Nigeria to challenge the $10bn award issued by an arbitration tribunal in the firm’s favour and against the Federal Government in 2017.

Responding to our correspondent’s request for the P&ID’s response to the Friday’s verdict, the firm, through its usual e-mail channel, said it welcomed the judgment.

It said the judgment would offer it an opportunity to refute Nigeria’s “false allegations and wild conspiracy theories” concerning the transactions leading to the award.

“P&ID welcomes the opportunity to refute Nigeria’s false allegations and wild conspiracy theories at trial, and has every confidence that the English Commercial Court will resolve the case justly and expeditiously,” the e-mail read.

Meanwhile, in line with the prevailing COVID-19 protocol, the Friday’s judgment was remotely handed down by Justice Ross Cranston of the High Court of Queen’s Bench Division of Commercial Court in London, by circulation to the parties’ representatives via their e-mails on Friday.

Justice Cranston, in granting Nigeria permission to challenge the arbitral award delivered over three and a half years ago, agreed that there was prima facie case of fraud in the agreements leading to the award requiring full inquiry.

“It seems to me that, where a party has a strong prima facie case of fraud, there can be no prejudice to the respondent in being subject to a full inquiry into the fraud at trial,” he ruled.

The London arbitration panel had on January 31, 2017 ordered Nigeria to pay the sum of $6.6bn as well as post-judgment interest at seven per cent for a breach of a Gas Supply Processing Agreement which the Federal Government entered into with P&ID in 2010.

The arbitral award which as of 2019 stood at $9.6bn has now risen to $10bn.

On August 16, 2019, Justice Christopher Butcher of a London Commercial Court affirmed P&ID’s right to enforce the judgment.

The Federal Government has been battling to have the humongous award overturned, alleging that the arbitration clause in the controversial GSPA and the arbitral awards were procured as the result of a massive fraud perpetrated by P&ID.

Following the Federal Government’s request, Justice Butcher had on September 26, 2019, granted Nigeria’s request to appeal.

The government had yet to file the appeal but on December 5, 2019, launched the fresh application for the extension of time to challenge the final arbitral award and relief from sanctions.

It contended in the application that it needed more time to be able to challenge the awards, adding that denying it the opportunity to challenge the final award would amount to the English court being used “as an unwitting vehicle of the fraud.”

P&ID, on its part, argued that to grant Nigeria an extension of time to challenge the tribunal awards issued three and a half years previously would be unprecedented.

Countering the argument, Nigeria’s lawyer, Howard, contended that the reason for the delay was that P&ID successfully concealed its fraud during the arbitration and for many years afterwards.

The Federal Government presented reports of investigations conducted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission into the alleged fraudulent conducts of P&ID in connivance with Nigerian officials.

In what sounded like a good prospect for Nigeria, Justice Cranston in his Friday’s judgment agreed that there was a prima facie case of fraud in the transaction requiring a full inquiry.

“For the reasons already given, Nigeria has to my mind a strong prima facie case in fraud in its serious irregularity challenge,” he ruled.

Dismissing P&ID’s claim to the effect that extension of period within which Nigeria could challenge the final award would cause it irredeemable prejudice, Justice Cranston held, “It seems to me that, where a party has a strong prima facie case of fraud, there can be no prejudice to the respondent in being subject to a full inquiry into the fraud at trial.”

The judge held, “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.”

On Nigeria’s alleged delay in challenging the arbitral award, Justice Cranston noted that “the delay in this case is extraordinary and weighs heavily on the side of the balance against an extension… however, other factors bring it down in favour of an extension.”

He held that “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”.

He added that “Given the strong prima facie case of fraud which I have concluded Nigeria has established” there would be “substantial injustice an applicant would suffer in respect of the underlying dispute if deprived of the opportunity of making a challenge should an extension of time be refused”

Concluding, the judge ruled, “For the reasons I have given, P&ID has contributed to the delay, and it will not by reason of the delay suffer irremediable 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.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *