Former President Muhammadu Buhari has reacted to the recent victory of Nigeria in the $ 11 billion Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) arbitration award dispute describing it as an “attempted heist of historic proportions” against the country as it was an attempt to steal “one-third of the nation’s foreign reserves.”
In an article released on Sunday titled, ‘A Matter of Principle,’ Buhari expressed his relief at the judgment delivered by Justice Robin Knowles of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales, who upheld Nigeria’s appeal that the award was obtained through fraud.
Nairemetrics reported a Business and Property Court in London last week halted the enforcement of the $11 billion arbitration award in favour of P&ID against Nigeria in a case marked CL-2019-000752.
In a verdict issued by Justice Robert Knowles, it was determined that the method by which P&ID acquired a 2010 contract for the construction of a gas processing plant in Calabar, Cross River State, involved fraudulent actions and bribery.
Reacting, Buhari said:
Recounting the experience of how he tasked the former Chief-of-Staff, Abba Kyari, and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, to find a way out of the issue, Buhari said that he knew the country needed a huge amount of evidence in order to get a fair hearing.
Earlier, TheWitness reported that the Business and Property Court in London ruled in favour of Nigeria in a $11 billion suit between the federal government of Nigeria and Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Ltd.
The judgment was delivered by Judge Robin Knowles.
In 2010, Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) secured a 20-year contract to build and operate a gas processing facility in the southern region of Nigeria.
P&ID entered into the agreement 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 fulfil its end of the bargain.
The federal government, on their part, contended that the project’s initiation was marred by a widespread bribery scheme.
