Chika Amanze-Nwachuku
Nigerian government’s bid to get the court to invalidate the multi-billion judgement debt awarded against it by a United Kingdom Court is yielding results, as a judge of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales, Ross Cranston, has granted the country’s application for an extension of time to challenge the decision of the court.
A UK court had on August 16, 2019, awarded a $9.6 billion judgement debt in favour of the P&ID, which said recently the debt now stands at about $10 billion.
The botched GSPA was purportedly signed in 2010 between the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and British Virgin Islands-based P&ID.
The Federal Government of Nigeria had filed series of applications in an effort to set aside the decision of Court of Arbitration and the whopping judgement debt. In December 2019, the Nigerian government had through the Ministry of Justice, filed substantive allegations of fraud against P&ID and a request for an extension of time within which to challenge the judgement.
Delivering judgement in the application on Thursday, a judge of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales, Ross Cranston granted Nigeria’s request for an extension of time as well as relief from sanctions.
Justice Cranston reasoned that the delay, in the case, “is extraordinary and weighs heavily on the side of the balance against an extension.”
“In my view, however, other factors bring it down in favour of an extension.
“As I have explained, the delay is not in my view the result of a deliberate decision made because of some perceived advantage, and in all the circumstances Nigeria has acted reasonably.”
The judge also established a prima facie case of fraud against the British Virgin Islands P&ID.
The judge declared: “Given the strong prima facie case of fraud which I have concluded Nigeria has established, the position is along the lines of that identified in Terna, where Popplewell J identified the substantial injustice an applicant would suffer in respect of the underlying dispute if deprived of the opportunity of making a challenge should an extension of time be refused: Terna Bahrain Holding Company WLL v Bin Kamil Al Shamsi [2012] EWHC 3283 (Comm), [2013] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 86, (33).
“For the reasons I have given, P&ID has contributed to the delay, and it will not by reason of the delay suffer irremediable prejudice in addition to the mere loss of time if the application is permitted to proceed. Although not a primary factor, fairness in the broadest sense favours an extension in this case. Conclusion.
“For the reasons given, I grant Nigeria’s applications for an extension of time and relief from sanctions”, the judge declared.
The Nigerian government was in 2017, ordered to pay P&ID $6.6 billion as damages, as well as pre- and post-judgment interest at 7 per cent in the case of the botched gas contract deal.
The case came to limelight last year, when a UK court on August 16, 2019, awarded a $9.6 billion judgement debt in favour of P&ID.
As part of efforts to set aside the whopping judgement debt, Nigeria had obtained the order of the court to review bank statements of former President Goodluck Jonathan, and two ex-petroleum ministers – the late Dr. Rilwanu Lukman and Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke
A Briton, James Nolan and six companies were arraigned in August over their alleged involvement in the botched contract.
A statement, Friday, from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, explained that Nigeria got the nod of an English court to commerce the process of challenging the award made against it by an arbitral panel, which was later sanctioned by a United Kingdom court.
The statement signed by Dr. Umar Gwandu, the media aide to the minister reads: “The English court has today delivered an unprecedented judgment, allowing the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) permission to proceed with its challenge to the $10 billion arbitral award made against it over three years ago.
“The court has allowed the FRN to bring this challenge well outside the normal time limits, due to the exceptional circumstances where FRN has uncovered evidence of a massive fraud in procuring the award.
“The court heard evidence from the FRN and the offshore shell company P&ID in relation to the gas supply and processing agreement (GSPA), which the parties entered into 10 years ago and which was never performed.
“The Muhammadu Buhari administration, having inherited this dispute from the previous administration, only recently uncovered evidence that the GSPA was a sham commercial deal designed to fail from the start, and that its subsequent arbitral award was based on fraud and corruption.
“The FRN relied on a number of ongoing investigations across multiple jurisdictions, including the US, to build its case. During the hearing, new evidence was presented to further support Nigeria’s challenge.
“The FRN will now proceed to a full trial of the issues, where the FRN’s substantive application to finally set aside the award will be heard, thereby recording a major success considering the fact that the Federal Government exceptional circumstances application to have its challenge taken well outside the normal time limits is upheld on account of uncovered evidence of massive fraud in procuring the award.
“The Federal Republic of Nigeria is pleased with the outcome from the High Court hearing today.
“This is a major victory in our ongoing fight against the vulture-fund-backed P&ID, to overturn the injustice of the multi-billion dollar arbitral award.
“In light of the new and substantive evidence presented regarding P&ID’s fraudulent and corrupt activities, the court has granted our application for an extension of time to hear our challenge out of normal time limits.
“The federal government will now proceed to a full hearing of our fraud challenge in the coming months.
“Investigations into the GSPA are ongoing, and we are firmly committed to overturning the award – no matter how long it takes – to ensure that this money goes towards Nigeria’s future, not into the pockets of millionaires trying to exploit our country.”