Godwin Tsa, Abuja
A London Court on Thursday ordered the Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID) to pay the sum of over £1.5m in favour of the Nigerian government within 21 days as legal cost incurred in pursuing a successful appeal.
The court had last Friday granted Nigeria’s request to appeal against
a $10 billion arbitration award obtained by vulture-fund-backed P&ID well outside the normal time limits.
Thursday proceedings was held to decide procedural and costs issues relating to applications by the Federal government to challenge the arbitration award, and to determine the short term directions to trial.
Justice Cranston J in a ruling, ordered P&ID to make an interim payment of more than £1.5 million within 21 days to cover legal costs the FRN incurred as part of their successful application for the extension of time to challenge the arbitration award and procedural hearing earlier in the year.
A statement by spokesperson to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF) , Dr. Umar Gwandu who disclosed this in a statement said a case management conference to determine the full trial window is scheduled to take place after November 2020.
According to him, “This is another crucial win for Nigeria in our ongoing fight against the vulture-fund-backed P&ID. We are pleased that the English Courts have taken our fraud challenge seriously, and awarded us a substantial interim payment in respect of our successful application for an extension of time to challenge the award.
This is a significant blow for P&ID, who continue to attempt to delay the process.
To date, P&ID and its financial backer VR Capital have not produced a single document or credible witness to challenge the FRN’s fraud evidence. Instead, they continue to resort to disseminating misleading claims, while taking every step possible to delay or obstruct our investigations across multiple jurisdictions.
The FRN remains firmly committed to overturning the injustice of the $10 billion award, and will not rest until we secure justice for the people of Nigeria – no matter how long it takes. Investigations into the GSPA are ongoing, and we are confident that more of the truth will be revealed over the coming months.”