By Yusuf Bello
The Presidency has welcomed the judgment by the UK Court, granting Nigeria’s application for an extension of time and relief from sanctions in a $10billion arbitration case with Process and Industrious Development Limited (P&ID) in Nigeria.
Presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu in a statement on Friday said the judgment is right, just and provides a strong prima facie case that the fraudulent gas deal with P&ID and the subsequent judgment debt of $10 billion against Nigeria was a clear attempt to cheat the country of billions of dollars by a company that had not invested one Naira in our country.
The statement observed that on the arbitration award, it is a source of huge satisfaction that the UK Court, among others, had ruled that:
‘‘Nigeria has established a strong prima facie case that the Gas Supply and Processing (GSPA) was procured by bribes paid to insiders as part of a larger scheme to defraud Nigeria.
‘‘There is also a strong prima facie case that that (P&ID) main witness in the arbitration, Mr Quinn, gave a perjured evidence to the Tribunal, and that contrary to that evidence, P&ID was not in the position to perform the contract.’’
The Presidency expressed delight with the processes that led to this outcome in the English Court, noting that it has given relief to the Nigerian government to further protect it national assets from criminally-minded organisations and individuals.
“The views of the UK court thus provide sufficient grounds for the Federal Government to go ahead and challenge the frauds perpetrated by the company and overturn the arbitration award.
“President Muhammadu Buhari therefore commends the team of lawyers who represented Nigeria in the matter with P&ID, and reassures all well-meaning Nigerians and the international community of his unwavering commitment to fight corruption in all its forms and manifestation”.
