A UK court held that the award was obtained by fraud and that what had happened in the case was contrary to public policy.
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has commended the United Kingdom for its respect for the rule of law in reversing the $11 billion awarded against Nigeria in a case filed by the Process and Industrial Developments Company (P&ID).
Obi, in a statement on Wednesday by his media aide, Michael Nwolisa, also congratulated Nigeria’s legal team that handled the case against P&ID.
“I congratulate our dear nation, Nigeria, especially the legal team that handled the major judiciary victory recorded at the United Kingdom Court on Monday in the case against Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited.
“Thankfully, the case was decided in the United Kingdom, a nation known for its respect for the rule of law and where the judiciary delivers justice freely and fairly to the people.
“This, therefore, offers veritable lessons to Nigerians in general, and our judiciary in particular,” Obi said.
According to him, every lawful society is built on a strong system of justice and every democratic society exists on the principle of the rule of law.
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He added, “In handling the identity crisis, electoral disputes, and many high corruption cases that have bedeviled our nation, the judiciary has a bounding duty to protect our dear nation’s value system.
“Nigeria won its bid to overturn an $11 billion damages bill involving the controversial P&ID deal, yet similar, or even greater amounts, have gone unaccounted for in Nigeria, and the culprits are freely walking the streets.”
He urged Nigerian public officeholders, in different arms of government, to be patriotic.
“We have no other nation but Nigeria and we all, are bound to work together for the development of our nation. As we have gladly received justice in a foreign land, may we learn to give justice to our countrymen so that our nation can enjoy peace, progress, and unity.
“A truly just and fair New Nigeria is possible if our judiciary embraces the spirit and message of change,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that a Business and Property Court in London, presided over by Justice Robin Knowles of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales, had quashed the $11 billion awarded against Nigeria in a case filed by P&ID.
Judge Knowles held that the award was obtained by fraud and that what had happened in the case was contrary to public policy.
