October 24, (THEWILL) – President Bola Tinubu has applauded the judgment of the Business and Property Court in London, which voided an $11bn Arbitration Award against Nigeria.
THEWILL reports that Judge Robin Knowles had in a judgment on Monday in London, upheld the prayers of Nigeria and quashed an arbitration order on Nigeria to pay a total $6.6 billion as damages accruing from March 20, 2013 with interest at a rate of seven per cent, which amounts to $11 billion in 2017.
The judgment followed an appeal before the court by the Federal Government of Nigeria against an Irish firm, Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID).
Following Judge Knowles’ dismissal of the $11.5 billion (USD) value of the award plus accumulated interest, previously won by P&ID over a failed 2010 deal to allegedly build a gas processing plant, on the grounds that the award was obtained by fraud, President Tinubu commended the UK Court for prioritizing the merits of the case above all other considerations.
“This landmark judgment proves conclusively that nation states will no longer be held hostage by economic conspiracies between private firms and solitarily corrupt officials who conspire to extort and indebt the very nations they swear to defend and protect.
“Today’s victory is not for Nigeria alone. It is a victory for our long exploited continent and for the developing world at large, which has for too long been on the receiving end of unjust economic malpractice and overt exploitation.
“Nigeria is appreciative of the tremendous efforts of the defense team and acknowledges the role of the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Attorney-General in the process of defending Nigeria’s interest in this case”, President Tinubu stated.
