A former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), has disclosed how Godwin Emefiele, the immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), saved the country billions of dollars. According to Aondoakaa, the billions of dollars saved would have been paid as arbitral awards to a foreign company, Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID).
It would be recalled that P&ID had previously claimed that the contract awarded to them to build a gas processing plant in Calabar, Cross River State, failed to materialize because the Nigerian government breached the terms of the agreement. As a result, the company secured an arbitral award of $6.6 billion against Nigeria, which included pre and post-judgment interest at seven percent, totaling $11 billion.
However, the United Kingdom Royal Courts of Justice recently ruled that the earlier judgment awarded against Nigeria in favor of P&ID was fraudulent. Delivering judgment in Nigeria’s appeal against the seizure of its assets anywhere in the world in payment of the said debt, Justice Robin Knowles held that P&ID engaged in fraud, bribery, and concealment of material facts regarding the contract it entered with Nigeria, among others.
Speaking on the ARISE NEWS Channel breakfast program, ‘The Morning Show,’ Aondoakaa, who was AGF when P&ID agreed with Nigeria in 2010 to build a gas processing plant, thanked Godwin Emefiele and the CBN for their assistance. He said that the CBN under Emefiele assisted Nigeria’s legal team in the case instituted against Nigeria in a London court.
Aondoakaa praised the Director of Legal Services in the CBN, who gave them the confidence, support, and ensured that they were able to present to the UK lawyers that the case was fraudulent. He urged the incumbent Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to review other fraudulent cases filed against the country.
Aondoakaa also noted that the case has exposed the fraudulent practices of some foreign companies. He commended Emefiele, who resisted pressure from different quarters, including top government officials, to approve payment for the award to avoid a heavier penalty if the matter dragged on.s.