By Musa Ilallah
A public affairs analyst
He can be reached at musahk123@yahoo.com
As a preamble, one needs to give a quick run down of the step by step activities that culminted in the favourable judicial judgements both at home and abroad in favour of Nigeria in the biggest scam by P&ID, that would have seen the country loosing billions of USD and doom the country.
In 2010, Nigeria signed a 20-year Gas Supply and Processing Agreement with Process & Industrial Developments Ltd, P&ID, a BVI-registered company. P&ID was supposed to build a gas processing plant in Calabar and process “wet gas” for Nigeria.
P&ID was an offshore shell company with no assets, no website and no track record in gas.issues.
However, in 2012, P&ID claimed Nigeria breached the deal and took it to arbitration in London. Regretably, in 2017, Arbitral tribunal awarded P&ID $6.6bn. With interest, it grew to $11bn by 2023.
This forced the Nigerian government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari to challenge the award in the UK courts, arguing that the contract was procured through bribes to Nigerian officials and that P&ID lied to the tribunal. Officials named in the scam included a former Petroleum Minister, Rilwanu Lukman, NNPC official Taofiq Tijani, and Ministry’s Legal Director, Grace Taiga. Also, Nigeria stated that its own lawyers in the arbitration were bribed to “throw” away the country to the scammers.
In october 2023, a UK High Court ruled the awards were “obtained by fraud and contrary to public policy” and set them aside. Similarly, in October last year, a UK Supreme Court ordered P&ID to pay Nigeria up to £44m in legal costs.
The long-running $9.6 billion Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) scandal took another favourable decision recently as the Federal High Court in Abuja convicted a fleeing British businessman, Mr James Nolan, in absentia over a web of money laundering and forgery linked to the controversial deal.
In his ruling, Justice Obiora Egwuatu found Nolan, a director of Process and Industrial Developments Ltd, guilty on multiple counts bordering on money laundering, forgery and obtaining by false pretence in a case prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The court also convicted Micad Project City Services Ltd, a subsidiary linked to P&ID, after ruling that the prosecution successfully established it’s case with credible witnesses and documentary evidence.
The conviction marks a major breakthrough in Nigeria’s years-long legal battle over the controversial gas processing agreement that nearly cost the country $9.6 billion in arbitral damages.
Justice Egwuatu held that Nolan, who jumped bail and fled Nigeria during trial, would be sentenced whenever he is rearrested and brought before the court through the assistance of the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL).
The judge convicted Nolan on nearly all the 20 counts filed against him, except Count 13, which was struck out because the alleged offence predated the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011. In a striking revelation during the judgment, the court agreed with the prosecution that forged documents were used in the transactions involving Micad Project City Services Ltd.
Justice Egwuatu noted that one of the company’s directors, Lloyd Quinn, who died in 2014, could not possibly have signed documents purportedly executed in 2017. “Unless the late Lloyd Quinn resurrected from the dead, he could not have signed those documents,” the judge declared while affirming the forgery allegations.
Investigators alleged that Nolan forged the signatures of Lloyd Quinn and Adam Quinn in order to gain access to company funds after Lloyd’s death.
Adam Quinn, who is currently at large, was also ordered arrested wherever and whenever he is found.
Our correspondent recalls that the court heard that Nolan was initially arraigned in May 2022 alongside Micad Project City Services Ltd and granted bail in the sum of N100 million with one surety in like amount after being remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre.
However, after attending proceedings for some time, the British national allegedly disappeared around September 2022 and stopped appearing in court.
Following his escape, the court declared him wanted and approved his trial in absentia under Section 352(4) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
Despite the prosecution presenting six witnesses and several documentary exhibits, Nolan’s defence team chose not to call any witness in rebuttal and instead rested its case on the evidence already presented by the prosecution.
The anti-graft agency told the court that its investigation began after the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation requested a probe into the circumstances surrounding the controversial $9.6 billion claim made against the Federal Government by P&ID.
Nolan was later reportedly rearrested by INTERPOL in Italy on January 27, 2024, during a visit to his wife, although he has yet to be extradited to Nigeria.
The scandal has already triggered other convictions and sanctions linked to Nolan’s business network.
In July 2024, another Federal High Court presided over by Justice Donatus Okorowo ordered the winding up of two companies connected to Nolan, Trinity Biotech Nigeria Limited and Resorts Express Concept Nigeria Ltd, after they were found guilty of money laundering offences.
The court also ordered that the assets of the companies be forfeited to the Federal Government.
The P&ID case has as it stands today, forced Nigeria to learn from it some strategic lessons that include but not limited to due diligence matters. Arbitration isn’t immune to fraud as Courts will intervene if fraud is proven, even years after an award and Document handling. P&ID’s lawyers retained privileged Nigerian government documents, which the judge called “indefensible”.
Indeed, late fPMB showed patriotism by standing firm and resolute against the first judgement by the London arbitral tribunal and described P&ID as the greatest scammer of the century. He used all apparatus of state to fight the injustice against Nigeria and her people.
