The Business and Property Court in London, the United Kingdom, has stopped the enforcement of the $11 billion arbitration award in favour of P&ID against Nigeria.

The court, in a judgement delivered by Justice Robert Knowles on Monday, October 23, 2023, held that the process through which P&ID secured a 2010 contract to build a gas processing plant in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, was fraudulent.

Justice Knowles said: “In the circumstances and for the reasons I have sought to describe and explain Nigeria succeeds in its challenge under section 68.

“I have not accepted all of Nigeria’s allegations. But the Awards were obtained by fraud and the Awards were and the way in which they were procured was contrary to public policy.

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“What happened in this case is very serious indeed, and it is important that section 68 has been available to maintain the rule of law.”

Nigeria has over the years been involved in a fight with Process & Industrial since the company accused the Nigerian government of botching a deal by failing to provide gas to them.

The country had suffered a $6.6bn judgement debt in 2017 when the arbitration tribunal ordered the country to pay P&ID with interest to start counting from March 2013.

P&ID, in its claims, said Nigeria violated the terms of its agreement by failing to provide gas for the power plant it wants to build for the country.

The Star