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Judgment Debt protest
Former Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, Michael Aondoakaa, has described the gas contract between Nigeria and Process and Industrial Development Ltd. (P&ID) as a secret deal which lacked transparency and did not involve the relevant agencies of government.
Speaking on Sunrise Daily, a breakfast show on Channels TV, Aondoakaa who served as AGF from 2007 to 2010 said he was not aware of the contract even as AGF and so did other persons who ought to be involved in the contract signing and negotiation.
A $9.6 billion judgment debt on account of the contract is standing against Nigeria with the Federal Government insisting it will appeal the judgment.
According to him no such contract was ever brought before the Federal Executive Council which underscored the high level of secrecy that surrounded the contract. He gave hope to the nation when he said that if it was proven that there was element of fraud in the award of the contract, such fraud would vitiate the judgment of the UK court.
Aondoakaa said the contract was in clear contravention of the Infrastructural Regulatory Commission Act and Public Procurement Act as the key persons at the commission also read about the contract in the media just like himself.
“This happened in secrecy. I contacted the DG of the Infrastructural Regulatory Commission and he was also shocked. Everything that is coming to us now is shocking. Although ignorance of the law is no excuse but If you are a foreign country coming to Nigeria, you ought to know the law. You ought to know if the contract was appropriated in the budget. The contract was not appropriated in the Nigerian budget,” the former AGF said.
The former AGF noted that the deal contravened Section 5 of the constitution as well as Sections 2 and 3 of the Infrastructural Regulatory Commission Act.
He said the contract was between P&ID and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources which was wrong as the key agencies involved in the production of gas were shut out of the negotiation.
Meanwhile, Mr Atiku Samuel, a policy analyst says the Federal Government should negotiate with Process and Industrial Development Ltd. (P&ID) before taking any other legal action.
He said this on Sunday in Abuja while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Samuel said that getting a workable negotiation was the only practicable thing to do to get the nation out of losing such huge amount.
“If Nigeria decides to even appeal the judgement, on what basis will the appeal be grounded,” he asked.
A UK court had in a ruling authorised P&ID, an Irish engineering and project management company to seize 9.6 billion dollars in Nigerian assets over a failed oil and gas contract.
The judgment was a fallout of the contract purportedly entered into in 2010 between the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and P&ID, and subsequent award made in July 2015 by an arbitration panel sitting in London in favour of the company.
Samuel said the nation was in such quagmire because of the failure of the justice system.
