P&ID case: UK court orders release of $200m deposit to Nigeria

A commercial court in London has ordered the release of the $200 million used as a deposit in the case against Process & Industrial Development (P&ID) to the Nigerian government.

According to a tweet from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday, the court also awarded £70,000 cost in favour of Nigeria in addition to an earlier award of £1.5 million.

Ross Cranston, the presiding judge, rejected P&ID’s plea to increase the security to $400 million.

“Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves was this morning boosted by over $200 million when the London Commercial Court ordered the release of the $200 million guarantee put in place as security in respect of the execution of the much discredited P&ID $10 billion arbitral claim,” the tweet read.

Nigeria's Foreign Exchange Reserves was this morning boosted by over $200Million when the London Commercial Court ordered the release of the $200Million guarantee put in place as security in respect of the execution of the much discredited P&ID $10 Billion Arbitral Claim.

— Central Bank of Nigeria (@cenbank) September 29, 2020

“Due to the substantial evidence of prima facie fraud established before the court, we are pleased that the judge has agreed to release the guarantee. We are also pleased that the court has rejected P&ID’s application to increase the guarantee, which was clearly intended to be a diversionary tactic and entirely misconceived,” Emefiele said.

“This release which is accretion into the reserves will further enhance the nation’s management of the exchange rate of its domestic currency, the naira.

“This is a further and significant victory for Nigeria in our ongoing fight to overturn the $10 billion award procured through fraud and corruption by P&ID and former government officials.

“P&ID and its backers, Lismore Capital and VR Advisory, are increasingly seeing their case slip between their fingers. They continue to resort to employing delay tactics, disseminating misleading claims, and taking every step to obstruct our investigations across multiple jurisdictions.

“The FRN will not rest until we secure justice for the people of Nigeria – no matter how long it takes. Investigations are ongoing, and we are confident that more of the truth will be revealed over the coming months.”

A government source said: “The Nigerian Government is determined to secure justice for the people of Nigeria – no matter how long it takes. Investigations are ongoing, and we are confident that more of the truth will be revealed over the coming months”.

Nigeria posted the $200 million bond in November 2019 in compliance with a court judgement to a get a stay of execution.