Nigeria’s Victory Over P&ID Is Triumph For Africa – President Tinubu

By Ayodele Oni

President Bola Tinubu has welcomed Monday’s judgment by Judge Robin Knowles of the Business and Property Court in London, which gave victory to the Federal Government of Nigeria over a firm known as Process & Industrial Development (P&ID) Limited.

In a judgment delivered by Robin Knowles, a Justice of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales, upheld Nigeria’s prayer to dismiss the fine.

The Court held that the ground on which the ill-fated gas processing contract was secured was illegitimate.

Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement pointed out that the victory has shown that nation states will no longer be held hostage by economic conspiracies between private firms and solitarily corrupt officials.

“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 commends 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.”