By Ken Afor
In the wake of Nigeria’s triumph in the $11 billion judgment debt case, a United Kingdom (UK) court has ruled that Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited must pay £20 million to Nigeria as damages and compensation.
This solidifies the country’s legal victory in October.
The specified amount should be paid to Nigeria within a 28-day period.
The disclosure of the £20 million damages award was made known during a consequential ruling in London on Friday, in order to determine the subsequent steps following the October ruling.
The purpose of Friday’s hearing was also to determine whether P&ID would be granted authorization to appeal the case, as reported by Arise News Channel.
“The court refused to grant P&ID permission to take the matter back to arbitration, saying that the company’s conduct during the process was reprehensible and therefore it completely set aside the $11 billion judgment.
“Nigeria was seeking at least £20 million back from P&ID to cover its damages and legal fees. Essentially, what P&ID lawyers were trying to do was to try and limit the amount it would pay to Nigeria as damages and they fought hard to see if it would be in naira. But the court ruled that they must pay £20 million to Nigeria and it must come in 28 days. Then came the request for appeal. Their request for appeal on the currency at which they were going to pay Nigeria was also denied. So, in 28 days, P&ID must pay Nigeria at least 20 million pounds,” as quoted by the source.
It would be recalled, in October, Nigeria experienced significant alleviation when the UK court freed the country from its involvement in the $11bn judgment debt that was previously granted to P&ID Limited.
Justice Robin Knowles of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales delivered a judgment in the case between the Federal Government of Nigeria and P&ID, wherein the court upheld Nigeria’s claim that the gas processing contract was fraudulently obtained.
Judge Knowles said: “In the circumstances and 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 awards were and the way in which they were procured was contrary to public policy.
“What happened in this case is very serious indeed, and it is important that Section 68 has been available to maintain the rule of law.
Citing Section 68 (3), Judge Knowles said: “ ‘(3) If there is shown to be serious irregularity affecting the tribunal, the proceedings or the award, the court may – (a) remit the award to the tribunal, in whole or in part, or (c) declare the award to be of no effect, in the whole or in part. The court shall not exercise its power to set aside or to declare an award to be of no effect, in whole or in part, unless it is satisfied that it would be inappropriate to remit the matters in question to the tribunal for reconsideration.’
“I was asked by Lord Wolfson KC in closing that should my judgment conclude in favour of Nigeria, as it does, to leave over the question of the order the court should make so that the parties have the opportunity to present arguments once they have considered the judgment. I respect and will hear that argument as soon as that can be arranged.”
In 2010, P&ID entered into an agreement with Nigeria to construct a gas processing facility in Calabar, Cross River State.
However, the company stated that the deal fell through due to the Nigerian government’s failure to fulfill its obligations.
P&ID pursued legal action against Nigeria, alleging a violation of the contra
