The legal dispute, which has dragged for more than a decade, centers on a contract that Federal Government officials struck with Michael Quinn, an Irish former band manager, and his business partner Brendan Cahill, to help the country turn its vast reserves of natural gas into power.
After over five years of legal fireworks, Nigeria has finally succeeded in halting the enforcement of the $11 billion arbitration award in favour of P&ID.
In a judgment delivered by email, Robin Knowles, justice of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales, upheld Nigeria’s prayer on the ground that the ill-fated gas processing contract was obtained by fraud.
The Cable had reported on Saturday that the much-awaited judgment would be delivered on Monday.
The case is Nigeria v. Process & Industrial Developments Ltd., case number CL-2019-000752, in the King’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, where the Federal Government is praying the UK High Court to dismiss the arbitration award in favour of P&ID as soon as possible.
Lawyers for both sides traded allegations of bribery, duplicity and incompetence during the trial.
A private arbitration tribunal had on January 31, 2017 ordered Nigeria to pay $6.6 billion to P&ID plus interest beginning from March 20, 2013.
With the interest rate fixed at seven percent amounting to $1 million a day, the potential payment had accumulated to over $11 billion before the verdict.
