British Court Hears Suit on Seizure of Nigeria’s $9bn Assets – TheNigerialawyer

A firm incorporated in the British Virgin Islands will today ask
a British court for the right to seize up to $9 billion of Nigerian
government assets over an aborted gas project.

Reuters reported that the request is part of a long-running saga
over a 2010 deal in which the federal government agreed to supply
gas to a processing plant in Calabar, Cross River State, that
Process and Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID) – a little-known
firm founded by two Irish business men specifically for the project
– would build and run.

P&ID had won a $6.6 billion award at arbitration, based on
what it could have earned during the 20-year agreement.

The firm is now claiming that the total owed has ballooned to $9
billon because of interest accrued since 2013.
The federal government has tried to nullify the award, saying it
was not subject to international arbitration but British courts
rejected the argument.

P&ID is now asking the Commercial Court in London to convert
the arbitration into a judgment, which would allow them to try to
seize international assets.

Reuters quoted a source close to President Muhammadu Buhari as
saying they were fully aware of the matter and the government “is
not sleeping.”

The source added that the federal government was optimistic the
matter could be resolved in the courts.
There are also proceedings pending at a US District Court in
Washington, D.C.

Officials contacted by Reuters said the lack of an attorney
general or petroleum minister made it difficult for anyone to
comment on the record.

While assets that are used for diplomatic purposes – such as the
Nigerian High Commission building in central London – were off the
table, commercial assets were up for grabs.

In 2008, a UK court ruled that proceeds of oil sales from Chad
held in an international account intended to repay World Bank loans
were fair game for seizure.

Experts also said that the involvement of hedge fund VR Group,
which has a stake in P&ID, signaled that it is unlikely to let
the issue drop.

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