A British judge who nullified the $11 billion arbitration award against Nigeria in the infamous P&ID case has delivered scathing remarks about the conduct of the tribunal and Nigeria’s legal team.
Justice Robin Knowles, delivering a lecture at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in London on June 18, described the P&ID arbitration as one of the most disturbing cases in his experience. The dispute stems from a failed 2010 gas supply contract between the Nigerian government and Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID).
In 2017, an arbitral tribunal awarded P&ID $6.6 billion in damages, which, with accumulated interest, surpassed $11 billion by 2023. However, the UK court found that the award was based on fraud, including bribery and improper access to Nigeria’s confidential legal documents. The award was overturned in October 2023.
Justice Knowles did not spare Nigeria’s legal representatives, stating they failed to effectively challenge exaggerated claims made by P&ID’s expert witnesses. He particularly criticised the tribunal—especially Lord Hoffmann and Anthony Evans—for accepting implausible projections of 20 years of uninterrupted profit without assessing market realities.
“These failures threaten the credibility of international arbitration,” Knowles warned. “Excessive awards like this one encourage unjustified claims and hinder access to justice.”
He added that the awarded sum represented about a quarter of Nigeria’s national budget—more than what the country allocates to education and healthcare combined.
Meanwhile, the UK Supreme Court has rejected P&ID’s attempt to pay legal costs in Nigerian naira, upholding that the £43 million owed to Nigeria must be paid in pounds sterling.
