London court rules against P&ID’s $11bn claim in gas deal dispute with Nigeria

In another major victory for Nigeria, a court in London has yet again, overturned a $11 billion damage award against the country that had been sought by Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited. 

The $11 billion damage bill against Nigeria was related to a gas processing project that was supposed to be built in Cross River State, in southern Nigeria. The project, which was to be developed by P&ID, never materialised, and the company accused the Nigerian government of failing to provide the necessary gas supplies.

Reuters reports that the London court also found that the gas processing project was tainted by corruption, and that bribes were paid to officials in Nigeria’s oil ministry. This finding further undermined the original judgment in favor of P&ID, as the tribunal had not taken these allegations into account.

In the judgment delivered on Thursday, Robin Knowles, the presiding judge, noted that P&ID had failed to disclose the alleged bribery when it brought its case to arbitration. As a result, the judge ruled that the damages awarded should be set aside, and dismissed P&ID’s request to send the case back to arbitration.

The ruling was based on the legal principle of “unclean hands,” which holds that a party cannot benefit from its own misconduct. In this case, the court found that P&ID’s alleged bribery meant that it should not be able to collect any damages from the arbitration.