About The Dispute

In July 2020, the Federal Republic of Nigeria argued before the London Commercial Court that it should be permitted an extension of time, to bring its fresh challenge to overturn the then $10 billion arbitral award in favour of vulture-fund-backed P&ID.

Nigeria brought its challenge on the basis that the GSPA was a sham commercial deal designed to fail from the start, and that its subsequent arbitral award was based on fraud and corruption.

The Federation relied on a number of ongoing investigations across multiple jurisdictions, including the US, to build its case. During the July hearing, new evidence was presented to further support Nigeria’s challenge.

Sadly, the evidence shows that corruption went to the highest levels of the previous administration. The standard protocols required by Nigerian law for approving federal contracts were bypassed, demonstrating that the GSPA was intentionally withheld from key government individuals.

Through Nigeria’s investigations in the US, it has become increasingly apparent that P&ID and VR Capital will go to any length to aggressively pursue the award, including delaying and obstructing the Federation’s investigations into the GSPA. In addition to providing false evidence and misleading the Arbitral Tribunal, it has also recently come to light that P&ID had failed to disclose evidence of suspicious payments to the English Courts when they had a clear opportunity to do so. Further, not a single document or credible witness has been produced by P&ID and VR Capital to contradict Nigeria’s fraud evidence.

In September 2020, the London Commercial Court ruled that Nigeria could challenge the then $10 billion arbitral award. The unprecedented judgment cited exceptional circumstances and noted that prima facie evidence of a massive fraud had been uncovered.

In his judgment, the judge Sir Ross Cranston stated, “Nigeria has established a strong prima facie case that the GSPA was procured by bribes paid to insiders as part of a larger scheme to defraud Nigeria. There is also a strong prima facie case that P&ID’s main witness in the arbitration, Mr Quinn, gave perjured evidence to the Tribunal and that, contrary to that evidence, P&ID was not in the position to perform the contract. As to the Jurisdiction and Liability stages of the arbitration, there is a prima facie case that they were tainted by the conduct of Nigeria’s advocate… It seems to me that Nigeria has made a good case that, at the time it took part or continued to take part in the arbitration, it did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have discovered the grounds it now advances.”

In October 2021, P&ID revealed that it has been in possession of numerous documents which might be confidential to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. These include documents from the time of entry into the GSPA and legal advice provided to Nigeria as to how to defend the arbitration. These included documents from the time of entry into the agreement and legal advice provided to Nigeria during the arbitration. One of the email threads confirmed at least one of the suppliers of these confidential documents to have been Ms Olufolakemi Adelore, using an email address to communicate with P&ID’s agent and middleman Mr Adetunji Adebayo.

These confidential documents were shared with P&ID representatives, including Mr Seamus Andrew and Mr Trevor Burke KC, who failed to disclose this to the FRN or tribunal at any time.

In February 2022, Nigeria obtained orders from appeal courts in the US and British Virgin Islands enabling the country to obtain discovery to support its fraud allegations against P&ID.

In April 2022, a New York federal court rejected the arguments of VR Capital, which acquired a 25% of P&ID in 2015, to withhold documents detailing the deal with P&ID, granting Nigeria’s legal team unprecedented access to important documents.

In July 2022, the London High Court held that it would be reasonable and proportionate for P&ID to disclose further information related to private messages sent between key figures associated with the company over a period of several years, based on the evidence summarised in this Skeleton on behalf of the FRN.

During the hearing, it became apparent that Mr Trevor Burke KC, one of the P&ID representatives who received confidential documents concerning the FRN by email, is the nephew of Mr Michael Quinn, the founder of P&ID. Mr Burke KC acted for P&ID without any written retainer in place and received payments of up to US$ 3.5 million. These payments were not paid through his chambers, Three Raymond Buildings, and he stands to receive around US$750 million in the event P&ID is successful in enforcing the award.

In January 2023, the FRN’s years-long fight to overturn a scam agreement culminated in a historic eight-week trial in London, during which the FRN’s substantive application to finally set aside the award was heard. During the trial, Nigeria put forward its substantive arguments, including that P&ID is guilty of bribery and corruption on an ‘industrial scale,’ and that the key associates of P&ID suppressed evidence of corruption in the initial arbitral proceedings, and that lawyers associated with P&ID disregarded their professional integrity, including sharing the FRN’s privileged documents, in pursuit of a promised ‘pot of gold’.

The 2023 trial exposed the industrial-scale greed of P&ID and its associates, and their disregard for the Nigerian people as they aggressively pursue money they are not rightfully owed, But Nigeria is fighting for more: to put a stop to predatory investment practices, so that international vultures cannot continue to prey on vulnerable nations and their people. Mark Howard KC, the FRN’s lead legal counsel in the case, said those in P&ID were ‘working under the illusion what they were doing in Nigeria in bribing people was open and honest’. Mr Howard added: ‘Quinn and Cahill were the perpetrators not the victims motivated by their own greed.’

Mark Howard KC emphasised that: ‘the people of Nigeria are the true victims here of what is going on, have been the target of corruption and dishonesty on a truly nauseating scale.’ He added Nigeria is ‘a soft target for people like Quinn and Cahill to tap up to make their millions, and no doubt there are many more Cahills, and Quinns, and VR Capital desperate to back them. And they will continue to leach from the people of Nigeria until a fine line is drawn in the sand.’

Judgment has been reserved and is expected at a later date.