LONDON, Aug 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) —A British judge has ordered the Nigerian government to pay $9bn in assets to a small private company.
The firm, P&ID, had reached a deal with the Nigerian government in 2010 to build a natural gas plant – but the deal fell through two years later.
P&ID then sued the government for failing to provide the gas or install the pipelines it had promised to build.
The firm was first awarded $6.6bn in 2017, but the London court has now added $2.4bn in interest.
The final amount of more than $9bn is equivalent to about 20% of Nigeria’s declared foreign reserves of $45bn.
The judge’s decision converts the 2017 arbitration award into a legal judgement, which allows P&ID to try to seize assets from Nigeria.
Nigeria’s solicitor general Dayo Apata said the government would appeal against the decision. — NNN-AGENCIES
