Nigeria to shield itself from $ 9 billion claim
LONDON 24 Sep (ANA) - Nigeria government will do whatever it takes” to protect its economy from a more than $ 9 billion (£ 7.2 billion) arbitration claim over a failed gas project, policy makers said, but the government will not rule out a settlement with a firm registered in the British Virgin Islands.
In August, a judge in London granted Process and Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID) the right to attempt to seize some $ 9 billion in assets from the Nigerian government over the gas project. The sum would be one of the largest financial penalties imposed on Nigeria, representing 20% of the currency reserves of Africa's largest economy and top oil producer.
We will do whatever it takes to ensure the protection of the interests of the Nigerian government and the Nigerian people,” the country's attorney general, Abubakar Malami, told Reuters.
Asked if the country would be open to an out-of-court settlement, Malami said he was not ruling out any possibilities, though Nigeria had not been approached formally by P&ID.
The company said earlier this month that if the government would “come to the negotiating table, P&ID is ready for serious talks. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Malami is part of a sizeable Nigerian delegation that travelled to London to meet investors, financial institutions and energy firms ahead of a hearing on Thursday, after which the court is expected to rule on the state's efforts to fight the August decision.(ANA)
FA/ANA/24 September 2019------