A UK Court of Appeal has validated Nigeria’s claim for the post-judgment costs to be paid in Pounds.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN made this known in a statement issued by his Special Adviser (Media) Kamorudeen Ogundele, on Friday in Abuja.
Fagbemi said he was delighted at a report he received from Nigeria’s UK solicitors on the latest victory recorded by the country in its fight against corruption and extortion by litigation hawks.
“Consequent upon our success in defeating the fraudulent USD 11 billion claim by the Process & Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID) in 2023, Nigeria is continuing its efforts to recover its substantial costs from P&ID and its vulture fund backers’’.
He noted that the P&ID had tried to reduce the amount drastically by claiming that Nigeria should only be entitled to recover its costs in Naira which evidently will produce a much lower cost.
“This was another misconceived and desperate attempt by fraudsters to deprive the Nigerian people of their hard-earned public revenue.
“As a government, we are very determined to recover these costs and make P&ID and its US funders pay for their scam so as to serve as deterrence to others of their ilk.
“We commend the dedication and tenacity of our legal team for this accomplishment.
NAN reports that in 2023, in the long-running legal battle between P&ID and the Nigerian government, a UK court has awarded Nigeria 20 million pounds in damages and compensation in the long-running $11 billion P & ID case.
That ruling followed Nigeria’s historic victory in October 2023, which saw the court quash the fraudulent 11 billion dollar arbitration award in favor of P&ID.
NAN reports Nigeria sought at least 20 million pounds back from P&ID to cover its damages and legal fees.
But P&ID lawyers tried to limit the amount it would pay to Nigeria as damages, and they argued that the money would be paid in naira.
P&ID had filed for fresh arbitration to revive their claims against Nigeria for alleged breach of a 2010 gas supply agreement. ((NAN)
