The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said on Thursday, the Federal Government would not negotiate with the British Virgin Island firm, Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) over the $9.6bn judgment secured against Nigeria last year.
A British court had last year awarded $9.6bn to P&ID over a failed gas supply agreement signed with the federal government in 2010.
However, a British Commercial Court last week gave Nigeria the go-ahead to appeal the award of the funds to P&ID.
Sir Ross Cranston, who delivered the ruling, said: “Nigeria has established a strong prima facie case that the GSPA was procured by bribes paid to insiders as part of a larger scheme to defraud Nigeria.”
The AGF had said in a chat with journalists on Wednesday that the government would keep the window of negotiation with P&ID open.
READ ALSO: Nigeria learnt lessons from P&ID saga —Malami
However, in a surprising U-turn, Malami said in a statement issued by his spokesman, Umar Gwandu, that the government would not negotiate with P&ID as the process leading to the arbitral award it obtained against Nigeria was rooted in fraud.
He said: “There will be no negotiation or talk of settlement with P&ID or any related party by or on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“The recent judgment of the English Commercial Court confirmed our view that P&ID and its cohorts are fraudsters who have exploited our country. They will not benefit from their corrupt behaviour.”
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