P&ID: FG earmarks N1.1bn to set up task force to scrutinise ‘shady contracts’

The federal government has earmarked N1.1 billion for setting up a task force that will scrutinise contracts similar to the controversial Process and Industrial Development Limited (P&ID) signed by previous administrations.

The ministry of justice made the provision in its 2022 budget.

The budget item with line code – ERGP30171327 – provides for the “establishment of a federal taskforce and development of federal contracts administration system (FCAS) in Nigeria.”

Appearing before the senate committee on judiciary to defend his ministry’s budget on Monday in Abuja, Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice, said there were nine other contracts similar to the shady P&ID contract.

The P&ID had won a $9.6 billion judgement against Nigeria in a British court. The company claimed it entered a contract to build a gas processing plant in Calabar, Cross River state and that the deal collapsed because the Nigerian government did not fulfil its end of the bargain.

Defending the need for the task force, Malami told the senate committee that the P&ID contract did not go through the AGFs office or the federal executive council (FEC) for vetting. 

“The major problem with P&ID is that the contract was never ever allowed to pass through the office of the attorney-general for vetting. So, on the account of that there are embedded in the contract clause that is inimical to the interest of the nation,” the minister said.

“Because of the fact that there is a preliminary conspiracy among the key promoters of the contract, the contract was never allowed to pass through the federal executive council, FEC for its approval, neither was it allowed to pass through the federal ministry of justice for vetting.

“The existing structures are there, but they can only act in respect of contracts that are referred to the department. We have developed need for other circulars that these are intended clauses that could be tolerated in public interest and the interest of the nation in mind were attached.

“In respect of P&ID, there were about nine contracts that were signed at the same time in breach of due processes and procedure. They are there; they simply use the P&ID as a test case.

“If it has indeed, succeeded in taking away $10 billion out of our economy, those other existing contracts that were signed at the same time in breach could have now have been the contracts we will be faced with in terms of arbitration and associated issues.”

Malami said the proposed task force would review the existing problematic contracts that can undermine the economy as far as the P&ID is concerned.