Fresh Development As London Court Delivers Ruling On P&ID’s Appeal Against $11billion Judgment Given Earlier In Favour Of Nigeria

Fresh Development As London Court Delivers Ruling On P&ID’s Appeal Against $11billion Judgment Given Earlier In Favour Of Nigeria

The final appeal of Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) against Nigeria in an eleven-billion-dollar arbitration case has been unsuccessful.

The attempt to overturn a London High Court’s October judgment, which had halted the enforcement of damages related to a failed gas processing project, has been denied.

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The High Court had initially ruled in October that P&ID, a company based in the British Virgin Islands, had engaged in bribery with a Nigerian oil ministry official in connection with a gas contract signed in 2010.

The court found that P&ID failed to disclose this information when initiating arbitration proceedings against Nigeria regarding the collapse of the deal.

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Judge Robin Knowles, in his ruling, dismissed P&ID’s argument for the case to be returned for arbitration. Instead, he affirmed the decision to completely reject the damages award. On October 23, Judge Knowles had already ruled in favor of Nigeria, asserting that the $11 billion arbitration award obtained by P&ID was tainted by fraud.

The judge determined that P&ID had paid bribes to Nigerian officials involved in drafting the gas supply and processing agreement in 2010. Additionally, it was revealed that P&ID unlawfully possessed Nigeria’s privileged legal documents during the arbitration hearings.

Despite Nigeria’s plea to set aside the award, citing ongoing trials for money laundering and graft involving individuals in the case, the judge, after considering arguments presented by P&ID’s lawyers, including the assertion that the documents in their possession did not influence their initial arbitration victory, declined to grant permission for an appeal on Thursday.

P&ID is now barred from seeking permission from the Court of Appeal.

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In January 2010, P&ID, a company registered in the Virgin Islands and established by two Irish business partners, entered into a Gas Supply and Processing Agreement (GSPA) with Nigeria to build a processing plant in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State. However, the agreement collapsed in August 2012, leading the company to seek $5.96 billion in compensation from Nigeria. P&ID initiated arbitration proceedings against the country at the London Court of International Arbitration.

In January 2017, the arbitration ruled that Nigeria had breached the contract and ordered the country to pay $6.6 billion to P&ID, with interest dating back to May 2013. By the time of the verdict, the interest, set at seven percent ($1 million daily), had accrued to over $11 billion.

Following this, Nigeria appealed against the enforcement of the award, and in September 2020, the court granted the relief sought by the country. Nigeria argued that there was sufficient evidence indicating that the contract and the arbitration award were secured through fraudulent means.

The Nigerian side urged the court to annul the award, citing ongoing trials for money laundering and graft involving individuals in the case. In the judge’s October ruling, it was not only affirmed that the arbitration awards were tainted by fraud but also that their procurement was contrary to public policy.

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