A United Kingdom (UK) Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court’s decision to halt the enforcement of Process & Industrial Development’s (P&ID) $11 billion award against Nigeria.
Despite permitting P&ID to appeal the judgment, the Lead Judge, Lord Justice Snowden, dismissed the appeal unanimously.
In a document released on the UK judiciary website, it was argued during the P&ID appeal whether the lower court had erred in mandating the payment of the £43 million legal costs in British pound sterling instead of naira.
The company contended that Nigeria funded its legal services by exchanging naira from its consolidated revenue fund.
Another point of contention is whether the Judge’s decision to instruct P&ID to cover Nigeria’s costs in sterling was justified.
The lead judge, Snowden, accepted Nigeria’s argument that since the legal cost was paid in sterling, the cost order should be paid in the same currency.
“In my judgment, therefore, the judge was right to accept Nigeria’s straightforward submission that because Nigeria had been invoiced and had incurred its liability to its solicitors in sterling and had paid those bills in sterling, the court ought to make its Costs Order in sterling,” the judge ruled.