• Slams Jonathan for accepting dubious settlement, commends Buhari for tenacity
As Nigerians continue to ponder over what would have been the fate of the country if the recent judgement of a United Kingdom Business and Property Court had gone the other way, the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has called on the government to take a critical look at the judgement with a view to learning and implementing key lessons. ANEEJ Executive Director, Reverend David Ugolor made the call at a press briefing on the outcome of the case. It will be recalled that on Monday, the Business and Property Court in London stopped the enforcement of the $11bn arbitration award in favour of P&ID against Nigeria in a case marked CL-2019-000752.
The Judge, Robin Knowles found that the massive arbitration award in favour of Process & Industrial Development Ltd. (P&ID) was tainted by fraud. In his words; “The awards were obtained by fraud. The way in which the awards were procured was contrary to public policy.” Reacting to the verdict, ANEEJ expressed excitement that Nigeria was able to establish a strong prima facie case that the 2010 gas project agreement between the government and P&ID “was procured by bribes paid to insiders as part of a larger scheme to defraud Nigeria”.
The helmsman of the frontline anti-corruption organization also said the group was happy to note that even though Nigeria won this case, the London court lambasted some Nigerian officials for their greediness and unpatriotic acts that would have cost the country $11 billion in damages, which would have amounted to one third of the 2024 budget
His words: “You may further recall that for several years, the Nigerian government has been involved in a battle with Process & Industrial Development Ltd since the company accused the Nigerian government of botching a deal by failing to provide gas to them. The country had suffered a $6.6bn judgement debt in 2017 when the arbitration tribunal ordered the country to pay P&ID with interest to start counting from March 2013.
“P&ID, in its claims, said Nigeria violated the terms of its agreement by failing to provide gas for the power plant it wants to build for the country. The government of Former president Goodluck Jonathan, sadly reached an out-of-tribunal agreement for the payment of $850 million and passed on disbursement to the administration of President Buhari. But former President Muhammadu Buhari baulked at the idea of paying the negotiated sum, set aside the settlement agreement, and challenged the enforcement of the award before the English Commercial Court. But the London court added $2.4 billion in interest, making it $9bn.”
ANEEJ emphasized that while Nigeria was lucky to be granted its request for a stay on any asset seizures while its legal challenge is pending, it was ordered it to pay $200 million to the court within 60 days to ensure the stay. Nigeria, ANEEJ narrated was also to pay some court costs to P&ID within 14 days.
According to the group, the original decision on August 16 converted an arbitration award held by P&ID to a legal judgment, which would allow P&ID to try to seize international assets.
“In 2018, Nigeria began investigating the company through the EFCC and found evidence of two bank transfers totalling $20,000 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.
“This is how unscrupulous Nigerians have continued to fleece this country and bringing it to its knees. For us in ANEEJ, we see the outcome of the case as a blessing for poor Nigerians that are currently suffering from grand corruption carried out by Nigerian elites and their foreign collaborators over the years.” Reverend Ugolor further stressed that the UK Court had helped to block the stealing of poor people’s resources and therefore deserves commendations. The group also praised what it described as the tenacity of the immediate past Muhammadu Buhari administration, which refused to accept what has been described as the dubious out of court settlement initiated by the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
He said: “We therefore wish to call on the Nigeria and UK Governments to ensure that they expose and prosecute all those who are involved in the grand corruption to serve as a deterrence and also end the culture of impunity in business transactions in Nigeria. We also call on the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi to set up a panel of enquiry to unpack what happened in the P &ID Case and draw lessons for future engagement.” ANEEJ is also advocating for the blacklist and placement of an indefinite ban on the companies and individuals that were involved in the business transaction. The group concluded by calling for transparency and accountability in the form of an open publication of the total amount spent in the prosecution of the case.
