How Malami, late Abba Kyari, Emefiele managed caseProcess & Industrial Development Limited now faces a bleak financial future following the judgment of the United Kingdom Commercial Court, which established a prima facie case of fraud against the company in the failed Gas Supply Processing Agreement with Nigeria.
However, when Buhari took over as president, negotiation with P&ID continued. And after the new Federal Executive Council under him reviewed the case, Nigeria offered to close down the matter by offering P&ID $200 million payout and an oil block as full and final settlement of the their claim. To share from the $9.6 billion judgment fraudulently awarded against Nigeria, a sovereign debt hedge fund managed by VR Capital Group reportedly bought a 25% stake in the company. The hedge fund was notorious for obtaining judgment.
First, they decided to sack all lawyers previously engaged and instead hired a shrewd new legal team, Mishcon De Reya Shaistah Akhtar, a partner with the firm, to lead the legal team alongside Mark Howard QC of Brick Court Chambers, they applied to the court for an extension of time to challenge the arbitral award.
That order effectively halted P&ID from enforcing the judgment granted by the Arbitration Tribunal, a development that paved the way for Nigeria to contest the $9.6bn granted the Irish firm. There are other middlemen in the huge international syndicate that specialise in defrauding countries through bogus lawsuits under the pretext of breach of contract.
Also, yesterday, counsel to the federal government at arbitration tribunal, Olasupo Shasore, SAN said he was relieved by the fact that the corrupt and fraudulent foundation of the case was affirmed in the judgment. “Mr. Mill submitted that these payments had nothing to do with P&ID. Moreover, Mr. Shasore had volunteered the information about them to the EFCC and described them as gifts. The argument that Mr. Shasore volunteered the payments goes nowhere, since once the EFCC had information from the bank accounts; it was difficult to deny them.
“When the then Nigerian officials failed to supply documents or any witness to defend their case, I fought liability by enlisting the support of the legal adviser of NNPC, who gave evidence to the best of his knowledge, when everyone else with knowledge refused to do so.