An English court has rejected an appeal by Process and Industrial Development (P&ID), a company owned by two Cayman Island-based entities, regarding the currency for paying Nigeria’s legal costs in a lawsuit. Justice Julian Flaux, along with two other judges, dismissed P&ID’s appeal on Friday, upholding a previous ruling that ordered the company to pay Nigeria £43 million in legal fees and disbursements. The payment is to be made in pounds sterling, a decision P&ID had contested.
This development follows Nigeria’s recent victory in a legal battle that lasted over a decade. Last December, the court set aside an $11 billion damages award to P&ID in a breach of contract dispute. Nigeria had argued that the contract was tainted by bribery and that P&ID aimed to profit from the situation. The London Court of International Arbitration initially awarded $6.6 billion to P&ID in 2017, citing Nigeria’s failure to fulfill contractual obligations. However, the amount ballooned to $11 billion with interest, putting Nigeria at risk of relinquishing a significant portion of its foreign exchange reserves.
Nigeria’s legal team successfully established that the contract was a product of corruption, with P&ID bribing officials to secure the construction contract in 2010. The court agreed, ruling that P&ID and its lawyers were “driven by greed and prepared to use corruption,” without regard for the harm it would cause.