P&ID: FG Adopting Strategy To Quash Case, Nullify “Contract”- AGF, Malami

The Federal Government has taken steps to strengthen its legal
team in its challenge of the controversial $9.6billion judgement
given in favour of the Irish firm, Process and Industrial
Development (P&ID) in a London court.

The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of
Justice, Abubakar Malami, who disclosed this Wednesday said the
target was to have the illegal Gas Supply contract, which gave rise
to the award against Nigeria, quashed.

Malami, in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by his
spokesman, Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, said the FG has started
implementing enhanced strategies geared towards setting aside the
entire P&ID liability and possible nullification of the
contract.

According to the Minister, under the new strategy “no lawyers
were replaced, but more lawyers with specialized skills are locally
and internationally engaged to support the existing capacity and
initiate fresh suits with a view to achieve the desired
result.”

Explaining what he meant by the desired results, the
Attorney-General of the Federation said “this time around it is not
limited to a challenge on enforcement proceedings, but extended to
setting aside the entire liability and probably the nullification
of the contract on the basis of which the award was hinged.”

While repudiating the allegation on replacement of the Nigerian
Legal team on P&ID Malami said “Our lawyers originally engaged
have proven to be versatile, competent and effective and constitute
our winning team. They have such capacity which we do not doubt in
their ability to deliver”.

“There was no change of counsel, but enhanced strategy commonly
agreed upon which was targeted at getting overall success,” the
Minister said.

Malami recently described the so-called PID contract as a
well-organized scam “consciously, deliberately and intentionally
orchestrated by some dubious and well-placed Nigerian government
officials at the time with some shrewd foreign collaborators to
defraud Nigeria and inflict heavy economic and financial loss on
Nigeria and its people.”

He vowed that the Nigerian Government will not sell out the
interest of the country and the Nigerian people in order to satisfy
some elements who are consciously out to extort the Nigerian people
for their selfish aggrandizement.

“We will not allow fraudulent local and foreign collaborators to
rip off the resources of Nigeria for no just cause but merely to be
seen as being nice or ‘investor-friendly,” Malami said.