Nigerian govt reacts as British court authorises seizure of $9bn Nigerian assets

The Nigerian government has said it will appeal against Friday’s judgment by a British court which gave Process and Industrial Development Limited (P&ID) the permission to seize Nigerian assets worth $9 billion.

In a statement released on Friday evening, Dayo Apata, the solicitor general of the federation and permanent secretary, federal ministry of justice, said FG has instructed its lawyers to seek for a stay of execution.

While stating that proceedings were ongoing in the United States, it added that “the Federal Government of Nigeria is making vigorous efforts to defend its interest in this matter and would not relent in exploring every viable option in doing so.”

The dispute that led to Arbitration between the Nigerian govt. and P&ID arose from a 20 year Gas Supply and Processing Agreement (GSPA) entered in 2010.

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FG had, through the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, made an agreement with P & ID in respect of an accelerated gas development project in Nigeria’s OMLs 67 & 123.

Apata claimed that “P&ID never began the construction of the project facility although it alleges it incurred about $40m in preliminary expenses.”

“P & ID’s claim in the arbitration proceedings was mainly for loss of profit for the entire twenty-year term of the GSPA, initially claiming the sum of US$1.9 Billion and later increasing its claim to US$5.9 Billion.

The firm was first awarded $6.6 billion in an arbitration case in January 2017 by a US District Court; the federal government however refused to pay the sum.

The damages increased to $9 billion after interest.

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