Adetutu Folasade-Koyi, Abuja

In a new twist in the controversial $9.6 billion judgement granted Process and Industrial Development Limited (P&ID), the Federal Government has instructed its lawyers to seek the leave of the Court of Appeal to appeal against payment of $200 million as a condition for granting a stay of execution.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja yesterday against the backdrop of the government delegation’s recent trip to London, United Kingdom, on the London commercial court’s $9.6 billion judgement in favour of P&ID.

The minister also disclosed how P&ID switched companies in the controversial gas deal with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

He also outlined how, according to the contract, the gas for the project was expected to come from OML 67, operated by ExxonMobil, and OML 123, operated by Addax, but none of the companies was even aware of the agreement.

Mohammed said: “A contract of this magnitude cannot be valid until it has been vetted by the Office of the  Attorney-General of the Federation and taken to the Federal Executive Council for approval.

“None of these was done. The sham contract was also signed in contravention of the Bureau of Public Procurement Act and the Infrastructural Regulatory Commission Procurement Act.

“While the MoU for the project was signed in 2009 by P&ID Nigeria Limited and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, a ‘trick’ clause dubiously inserted in the MoU was curiously activated that allowed British Virgin Island-registered P&ID to replace the original contractual party, P&ID Nigeria Limited, to sign the contract on January 11, 2010.

“P&ID, incorporated in BVI, is a shell company that has no history of any business, except the phantom GSPA in Nigeria.

“There was no board resolution approving the assignment of the contractual interest to P&ID BVI.

“P&ID never kick-started the construction of the project facility, despite its claim to have invested $40 million in Nigeria. It also never acquired any land to build the gas processing plant.

“There is no proof of any financial commitment by P&ID toward the execution and implementation of its own obligation, as stipulated in the 2010 agreement. Similarly, the Central Bank of Nigeria confirmed there is no trace of any funds brought into Nigeria by P&ID.”

Mohammed told newsmen that two directors of P&ID Nigeria have been “convicted of charges of money laundering and economic sabotage. They are Mohammed Kuchazi, a director of P&ID BVI, and Adamu Usman, a director of P&ID Nigeria.”

“Suspicious payments were made to Mrs. Grace Taiga, the legal  director in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. Mrs. Taiga was supposed to ensure that the interest of the country was adequately protected. Of course, the payment, transferred in three tranches, could only have been made in appreciation of the ‘good deed’ done to P&ID by Mrs. Taiga.

“Also, billions of naira, in suspicious cash transfers were made by P&ID. Investigations continue into these transfers,” Mohammed said, adding “…For such a supposedly important project, there was no budgetary provision for the implementation of the GSPA in the budget of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in 2010, and P&ID did not obtain the necessary licence to deal in petroleum products from the Department of Petroleum Resources, as stipulated by extant laws.

“The firm also neither filed tax returns nor paid VAT to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as required by law.”

On the appeal of the $200 million payment, the minister noted: “The Federal Government has a good chance of being successful in its impending appeal, otherwise the Commercial Court would not have allowed the appeal.

“Nigeria will be able to demand for a refund of the £250,000 payment to P&ID, where the government wins on the appeal. This fact is being hidden by those who have been spinning the London judgement in their own favour.

“On the $200 million payment as a condition for the granting of the stay of execution, Nigeria has instructed its lawyers to seek the leave of the Court of Appeal to appeal against that payment.

“Nigerians should remain assured that the Federal Government is taking all necessary steps to strongly avail itself of all defences customarily afforded to sovereign states under the United Kingdom Sovereign Immunity Act, to fight and upturn any enforcement of the award.

“In the words of Mr. President at the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, United States of America, last week, we are giving notice to international criminal groups, by the vigorous prosecution of the P&ID scam, attempting to cheat Nigeria of billions of dollars.

“The Federal Government has succeeded in changing the false narrative being peddled by P&ID both within and outside Nigeria by putting across strong evidence that the company is nothing but a fraud.

“For those who may still not understand the gravity of the judgement of the Commercial Court in London last week, let me say this: Had we lost our quest for a stay of execution and application to appeal in London last week, P&ID would by now be attempting to seize our assets all over the world.

“Remember they boasted before the judgement, that they have started compiling a list of our assets, which they would attach. But now, that’s an empty boast, thanks to the successes recorded in the court of law and the court of public opinion last week.”