The Business and Property Court in London will on Monday, October 23 deliver judgment in a case between the Federal Government of Nigeria and Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited.
According to reports, P&ID in 2010 had agreed with Nigeria to build a gas processing plant in Calabar, Cross River State, but the company said the deal collapsed because the Nigerian government did not fulfill its end of the bargain.
Claiming Nigeria breached the terms of the contract, P&ID took a legal recourse and secured an arbitral award against the country.
On January 31, 2017, a tribunal ruled that Nigeria should pay P&ID $6.6 billion as damages, as well as pre-and post-judgment interest at seven per cent.
Following the judgment, Nigeria applied for an extension of time and relief from sanctions.
The application was granted by Ross Cranston, a judge of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales, in September 2020, thereby returning the case to arbitration.
Nigeria had alleged that the gas deal was a scam conceived to defraud the country.
Lawyers representing the federal government told the court that P&ID officials paid bribes to secure the contract.
But P&ID denied the allegation and accused the Nigerian government of “false allegations and wild conspiracy theories”.
In a March trial at the court, Nigeria alleged that the contract was secured through dishonest means that included bribery and perjury and that the arbitration award, which has now risen to $11 billion because of interests, should be quashed.
In September, it was reported that representatives of P&ID were actively seeking negotiations with the federal government to reach an out-of-court settlement.
