by Davies Udeogu
Following a botched agreement with foreign engineering company, Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID), regarding a new source of power for the country, the Federal Government has been ordered to pay billions of dollars in damages.
In 2012, P&ID and the FG began arbitration before a London tribunal to try to come to an amicable settlement following the failed agreement, however this soon devolved into time wasting and by 2015, the tribunal unanimously concluded the the federal government was fully liable for the repudiation of the agreement. It thus ordered the FG to pay up $6.6 billion in damages, plus interest that is accruing daily at a rate of over $1.2 million.
The FG have made no move to pay this money up and over the years, the amount owed has bloated up to $9.4 billion. This massive figure represents over one fifth of the country’s declared foreign reserves of $45 billion dollars
P&ID has since taken the matter to court in both the US and the UK, to convert the tribunal’s award in a legal judgment.