The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, judgment of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, Monday said that the Robin St John Knowles of the United Kingdom Commercial Court setting aside the arbitral award of $11 billion in favour of Process and Industrial Developments Limited for an alleged breach of a Gas Supply and Processing Agreement has freed assets of Nigeria and its agencies around the world from the risks they had been exposed to.
The AGF said: “The Arbitral Award had over the years placed the assets of the FRN and those of its agencies all over the world at the risk of attachment, erosion of foreign reserves and distortion of monetary, fiscal and other policies of government with attendant dire consequences for Nigeria and its people.”
In particular, he added, the Judge concluded that P&ID obtained the award only by “practicing the most severe abuses of the arbitral process.” Fagbemi posited that the successful result is a decisive victory for the people of Nigeria “who stood to lose over US$11 billion, and for the Nigerian administration which has now reached a milestone in its mission to challenge the scourge of corruption.”
“It is imperative to point out that several agents of P&ID made overtures to the Government for settlement of this case. However, the resolve of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to go hands in gloves with fraudulent counterparties or condone corruption informed the position of the FRN to hold fast to its position not to settle.