The Business and Property Court in London has ruled in favor of Nigeria in its legal battle against Process & Industrial Developments Ltd.
The ruling, delivered on Monday, concluded that the manner in which P&ID obtained a contract in 2010 for the construction of a gas processing plant in Calabar, Cross River State, was fraudulent.
“The awards were obtained by fraud,” Robin Knowles said while delivering judgement.
Nigeria has been embroiled in a protracted legal dispute with Process & Industrial Developments for several years, stemming from P&ID’s accusations that the Nigerian government mishandled a contractual agreement by failing to supply the stipulated gas.
The contentious issue came to a head in 2017 when an international tribunal ruled that Nigeria must pay P&ID a substantial sum of $6.6 billion in damages, accompanied by a 7 percent interest rate.
However, Nigeria contested this decision and opted to appeal the judgment. As of last week, the total amount in question had surged to a staggering $11 billion, primarily due to the accrual of interest.
Central to Nigeria’s defense has been the assertion that the gas deal, which P&ID claims as rightfully theirs, was allegedly secured through corrupt practices, involving the bribery of government officials.
