A London Commercial Court on Tuesday ordered the release of the $200 million guarantee put in place as security for the stay of execution granted Nigeria for the appeal filed against the judgment of Justice Christopher Butcher for the execution of the arbitral award of $10 billion in favour of a British Virgin Islands-based firm, Process & Industrial Development.
The Central Bank of Nigeria revealed this today via its official Twitter handle, @cenbank.
The apex bank also said the court awarded a £70,000 cost in favour of Nigeria in addition to an earlier award of £1.5m.
“Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves was this morning boosted by over $200 million when the London Commercial Court ordered the release of the $200 million guarantee put in place as security in respect of the execution of the much discredited P&ID $10 billion arbitral claim.
“The court also awarded a £70,000 cost in favour of Nigeria in addition to an earlier award of £1.5m,” the bank wrote.
In his reaction, the CBN governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele described the judgement as “significant victory for Nigeria.”
“Due to the substantial evidence of prima facie fraud established before the Court, we are pleased that the Judge has agreed to release the guarantee. We are also pleased that the Court has rejected P&ID’s application to increase the guarantee, which was clearly intended to be a diversionary tactic and entirely misconceived. This release which is an accretion into the reserves will further enhance the nation’s management of the exchange rate of its domestic currency, the Naira.
“This is a further and significant victory for Nigeria in our ongoing fight to overturn the US$10 billion award procured through fraud and corruption by P&ID and former government officials.
“P&ID and its backers, Lismore Capital and VR Advisory, are increasingly seeing their case slip between their fingers. They continue to resort to employing delay tactics, disseminating misleading claims, and taking every step to obstruct our investigations across multiple jurisdictions.
“The FRN will not rest until we secure justice for the people of Nigeria – no matter how long it takes. Investigations are ongoing, and we are confident that more of the truth will be revealed over the coming months,” he said.
