Justice Robin Knowles of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales halted enforcement of a $11 billion Process & Industrial Developments Limited arbitration award against Nigeria.“In the circumstances and for the reasons I have sought to describe and explain, Nigeria succeeds on its challenge under section 68. I have not accepted all of Nigeria’s allegations, but the awards were obtained by fraud and the way in which they were procured was contrary to public policy,” Justice Knowles ruled.
An initial out-of-tribunal agreement for the payment of $850 million was reached by the Goodluck Jonathan administration and the disbursement was passed on to the Muhammadu Buhari administration. In his ruling, the judge not only agreed that the arbitration awards were obtained by fraud but also that the manner they were procured were contrary to public policy.
“Nigeria is appreciative of the tremendous efforts of the defense team and acknowledges the role of the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Attorney-General in the process of defending Nigeria’s interest in this case,” the President stated. According to him, associates of P&ID had last week approached the Nigerian government for an out-of-court settlement. Fagbemi further said hearings in the United Kingdom court would determine the costs to be paid by P&ID and other involved parties.
“This successful result is a decisive victory for the people of Nigeria, who stood to lose over $11 billion and for the administration, which has now reached a milestone in its mission to challenge the scourge of corruption. “There will be further hearing by the United Kingdom court on the heels of this judgment to determine costs payable by P&ID and others in the matter.”
The defendants, both directors of Goidel Resources Limited, a Designated Non-Financial Institution and ICIL Limited, were docked on a 32 count-charge bordering on money laundering. Their trial still continues. “One wonders the extent of liability and the socio-economic implications of implementing such an arbitral award in favour of P&ID considering the frail state of the Nigerian economy. The success of this appeal process is cheery news, which calls to question the need for patriotism among Nigerians in all walks of life.
“Permit me to commend the sense of patriotism of the Former Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Bayo Ojo, who gave a dissenting award during the hearing of the case. The dissent opinion, I believe, strengthened Nigeria’s case at the Appellate level.
Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)
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