EFCC Meets with Senior Lawyers over P&ID $9.6bn Arbitral Award

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has met with
two Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), Supo Shasore and Tunde
Fagbohunlu in connection with the agreement between Nigeria and
Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited, which
attracted an enforcement order by a British commercial court of a
$9.6 billion arbitral award against Nigeria, THISDAY reports.

THISDAY gathered that Shasore was the first lawyer that
prosecuted the case on behalf of the federal government at the
arbitration tribunal in the United Kingdom from 2014 under the
President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to when President
Muhammadu Buhari came to power.

Fagbohunlu, on his part, rendered a legal opinion and also
recommended former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Alfa
Modibo Belgore, who testified against the federal government in
London on the controversial contract.

It was gathered that the commission met with the two lawyers, in
continuation of its ongoing probe into the P&ID saga, as
ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari, in order to gain further
insight into the failed gas project.

THISDAY gathered that EFCC invited Shasore last Thursday and
asked him to shed more light on the failed gas project deal.

It was learnt that after the interaction with Shasore, who had
since returned to his Lagos home, the EFCC told him it might still
need assistance in future.

On his part, sources said Thursday that the interaction with
Fagbohunlu was still ongoing.

The anti-graft agency had also on Tuesday invited Justice
Belgore to assist its operatives assigned to the probe with
information about his role in the judgment debt.

Sources said the former CJN was allowed to go home on Tuesday
after he told them that it would be ridiculous to allow the meeting
to drag on for too long, saying that at his age, he could not
withstand such a long interaction.

Shasore on the other hand, was invited last Thursday as he was
preparing to travel to the UK for his daughter’s wedding, which
took place last Saturday.

Family sources said the meeting with the EFCC delayed his
departure for London.

However, he eventually made the trip and upon his return to the
country, he again appeared and was asked to go home pending when he
would be invited again.

Confirming his meeting with the EFCC last night, Shasore said he
was helping the commission in its investigation.

He stated that at no time was he detained or harassed as he
willingly cooperated with the operatives of the commission.

He said he gave the anti-graft agency all the necessary
information that would aid it in its investigation, including his
files he used to prosecute the case for four years.

The former Lagos State attorney general lamented that it was
after he handed off the case after four years that $6.5 billion was
awarded against the federal government.

He said those who took over the case after he handed over the
matter should tell Nigerians how the humongous amount was awarded
against Nigeria.

“Yes, I went in and gave them my files and other documents that
would help them in their investigation. I cooperated with them
perfectly.

“I don’t have anything to fear. For the four years that I was
involved in the case, there was no $6.5 billion award against the
federal government. “Those who took over from where we stopped have
some explanations for Nigerians on how $6.5 billion was awarded
against the country.

“I think they got all the information they need to do their job.
I have even told them that anytime they need me, they should tell
me and I will go,” he added.

Under the Gas Supply and Purchasing Agreement (GSPA) P&ID
entered into with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, on behalf of
the federal government in 2010, Nigeria was to supply wet gas to
P&ID plant, to be built in Cross River State, which would be
processed and used to generate about 2,000 MW of electricity for
Nigeria.

But the inability of the federal government to supply the wet
gas prompted P&ID to seek arbitration for what it termed the
loss of revenue the company could have earned from the project over
a 20-year period.

Last week, the commission had intensified its probe into how the
contract came into being in the first instance following a report
published by Bloomberg Businessweek, which detailed a pattern of
alleged fraud by the company’s promoter, Mr. Michael Quinn.

THISDAY had learnt that the anti-graft agency was expanding its
focus of investigation following concern the report had generated
among top government officials as it detailed a pattern, similar to
the controversial GSPA, P&ID entered into with the Ministry of
Petroleum Resources, which led to the $9.6 billion arbitral award,
now largely suspected to have been procured under fraudulent
circumstances through which the late Quinn had previously tried to
wangle hefty sums of money from the Nigerian treasury.

The Bloomberg report showed that the late Quinn, who began
living in Nigeria in the 2000s, warmed his ways into the hearts of
top government officials and political bigwigs, and had a
reputation of short-changing Nigeria in the contracts awarded to
him by his friends and contacts in government.

It was learnt the EFCC was now trying to determine if there were
pattern of fraud being perpetrated by P&ID using phoney
contracts and arbitration.