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

TRACKING____The Federal Government has been granted permission by the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales to file documents it considers necessary to prove that the Process and Industrial Development (P&ID)’s contract which led to the award of $6.6billion damages in 2017 against it was a fraud.

Nigeria brought the challenge after it discovered that the gas contract entered into with P&ID was questionable.

The award sum currently stands at $10 billion with its seven percent annual interest. A judge of the English Court, Ross Cranston, granted Nigeria’s application to proceed with the challenge following the claim that there was new evidence that P&ID procured the contract fraudulently.

“It is not my function at this preliminary stage to decide whether a fraud took place,” Cranston ruled.

The judge said, “it has been necessary to consider a considerable amount of the materials to decide firstly, whether as Nigeria contended there is a prima facie case of fraud and how strong that case is and secondly, the steps Nigeria took to investigate the alleged fraud from late 2015.”

With that as background, “I find persuasive Mr. Howard’s submission that the fairness factor does have an impact in challenges where there is strong prima facie evidence of fraud certainly of the though going character alleged in the case.”

The judge further ruled that, “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.”

The judge noted that though the delay in the case is extraordinary and weighs heavily on the side of the balance against an extension, “In my view, however, the factor brings it down in favour of an extension.”

According to the judge, the applicant (Nigeria) would suffer substantial injustice if deprived of the opportunity of making a challenge.

“For the reason 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,” he stated.

Reacting to the decision on Friday, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami (SAN) described it as unprecedented.

He said: “the FRN will now proceed to a full trial of the issues, where the FRN’s substantive application to finally set aside the award will be heard, thereby recording a major success considering the fact that the Federal Government’s exceptional circumstances application to have its challenge taken well outside the normal time limits is upheld on account of uncovered evidence of massive fraud in procuring the award.”

In a statement issued on his behalf by Dr. Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Malami said that the Buhari Administration, having inherited this dispute from the previous administration, only recently uncovered evidence that the GSPA was a sham commercial deal designed to fail from the start, and that its subsequent arbitral award was based on fraud and corruption.

The FRN relied on a number of ongoing investigations across multiple jurisdictions, including the US, to build its case. During the hearing, new evidence was presented to further support Nigeria’s challenge, he added.

Nigeria has earlier obtained a court judgment to request documents from P&ID stakeholders to review bank account statements of expresident Goodluck Jonathan, Diezani Madueke and late Rilwani Lukman who were in office when the fraud occurred.

Two staff of P&ID Nigeria have been convicted over the gas contract fraud, while a Briton, James Nolan, and six companies that were allegedly used in the transaction are currently facing trial before the Federal High Court Abuja.