A Court in the United Kingdom has ordered Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited to pay Nigeria £20 million in damages and compensation following its victory in a $11 billion judgment debt heard in October, 2023.
The court ordered that the money be given to Nigeria within the next 28 days.
The award of £20 million in damages was revealed during a subsequent ruling on the subject in London to determine what happened after the October ruling.
Reports said the hearing was also held to determine whether P&ID would be granted permission to appeal the decision, however, the court denied P&ID’s request to remand the case to arbitration.
It contended that the company’s conduct during the process was heinous, thus the judgment.
Nigeria had sued P&ID for at least £20 million in damages and legal fees but obtained significant relief in October when the UK court released it from entanglement in the $11 billion judgment debt previously issued in favour of P&ID Limited.
In the lawsuit between the Federal Government of Nigeria and P&ID, Justice Robin Knowles of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales affirmed Nigeria’s claim that the gas processing contract was obtained by fraud.
In the judgment delivered after five years of legal battle, Judge Knowles said: “In the circumstances and the reasons I have sought to describe and explain, Nigeria succeeds on its challenge under section 68. I have not accepted all of Nigeria’s allegations. But the awards were obtained by fraud and the way they were procured was contrary to public policy.”
Recall that P&ID was contracted by Nigeria in 2010 to build a gas processing plant in Calabar, Cross River State, in the country’s south but the deal fell through because the Nigerian government did not keep its half of the bargain.
