Lai: We’re confident $9.6bn judgement will be upturned

September 3, 2019 5:54 pm

Lai Mohammed, minister of information, says the federal government is doing all it can to ensure the country does not lose any of its assets to Process and Industrial Development Limited (P&ID).

Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, Mohammed said the company cannot begin any seizure until the court resumes from vacation.

He asked: “how can people come into Nigeria with portfolio, and walk away with about 20 percent of our entire foreign reserve?”

The minister was reacting to a statement by P&ID that it is ready to start seizing Nigeria’s asset over a $9.6bn arbitration judgment issued against the most populous black nation by a British court.

In 2012, P&ID had filed a suit against Nigeria following the failure of the country to fulfill its part of a gas and supply processing agreement (GSPA) contract it signed in January 2010.

The federal government has vowed to go on appeal, describing the project as a fraud.

“You will see that there is a lot grandstanding on the part of the P&ID especially by the Public Relations consultant it hired,” Mohammed said.

“As a matter of fact, they are already threatening that they are already compiling the list of assets of Nigeria to attach.

“The true of the matter is that, even in the judgment, the court said that it cannot start any attachment until the court resumes from vacation.

“We are doing everything possible and we are very optimistic that we will escape any embarrassment of attachment of the country’s asset as a result of this dubious award.

“The federal government has taken all necessary steps to ensure that no property of the country is attached by any court.

“Government will leave no stone unturned, legally and diplomatically to ensure that our asset will not be affected as a result of the judgment. We believe that both in terms of morality and law, we are confident that we will upturn the judgment.

“It is important to know that the government has also ordered investigations into the transactions because there are strong indications that underhanded things went on.”