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October 23, 2023
The judgment was delivered on Monday after five years of legal frameworks which have finally been to the advantage of Nigeria, as the court quashed the $11.5 billion arbitration award in favour of P&ID.
President Bola Tinubu has applauded the judgment rendered by a United Kingdom court against a firm known as Process & Industrial Development (P&ID) Limited in a London court.
The judgment was delivered on Monday after five years of legal frameworks which have finally been to the advantage of Nigeria, as the court quashed the $11.5 billion arbitration award in favour of P&ID.
Judge Robin Knowles of the Business and Property Court in London, the Justice of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales, upheld Nigeria’s prayer on the ground that the ill-fated gas processing contract was obtained by fraud.
Following Judge Knowles' dismissal of the $11.5 billion value of the award plus accumulated interest, previously won by P&ID over a failed 2010 deal to allegedly build a gas processing plant, on the grounds that the award was obtained by fraud, President Tinubu commends the UK Court for prioritizing the merits of the case above all other considerations.
A statement signed by Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity on Monday quoted Tinubu as saying, "This landmark judgment proves conclusively that nation states will no longer be held hostage by economic conspiracies between private firms and solitarily corrupt officials who conspire to extort and indebt the very nations they swear to defend and protect.
"Today's victory is not for Nigeria alone. It is a victory for our long-exploited continent and for the developing world at large, which has for too long been on the receiving end of unjust economic malpractice and overt exploitation.”
"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.