In a landmark judgement, the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID), effectively ending its decade-long legal battle to secure a colossal $11 billion in damages from the Nigerian government.
In the judgement delivered on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, the UK Supreme Court affirmed that the P&ID must pay the £43 million award in favour of Nigeria in pounds sterling, not in naira.
Background to the Case
The dispute originated from a 2010 contract between P&ID, a British Virgin Islands-based shell company, and the Nigerian Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
The agreement was that Nigeria would supply “wet” natural gas to P&ID, which promised to build and operate a gas processing facility in Calabar, Cross River State.
The company was to process the gas and return the “lean” gas to Nigeria for power generation, keeping the byproducts for its own sale.
However, the project never materialised. Both parties blamed each other for the failure, leading P&ID to initiate arbitration proceedings in 2012.
P&ID successfully argued in a private arbitration tribunal that Nigeria had breached the contract. In 2017, the tribunal ruled in P&ID’s favour and awarded it $6.6 billion in damages, plus 7 per cent annual interest. Due to the accruing interest, the award ballooned to over $11 billion by 2023.
READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu Insists Nigerian Court Lacks Jurisdiction as Govt Defends Trial
Nigeria’s fightback began in earnest in 2019 when it uncovered extensive evidence of corruption. The case was then taken to the UK High Court for confirmation of the arbitration award.
Justice Robin Knowles ruled in 2023 that the 2010 contract was procured by massive bribery and that P&ID had engaged in a “campaign of corrupt payments” to a Nigerian lawyer involved in draughting the contract. This became a “stunning” victory for Nigeria. Furthermore, P&ID had obtained crucial legal documents during the arbitration by bribing a Nigerian government lawyer.
The judge found that the entire affair was “a fraud on the republic” and that the arbitration award was obtained by fraud. He therefore refused to enforce the award.
The Supreme Court’s Final Decision
P&ID appealed this High Court decision to the Court of Appeal, which upheld Justice Knowles’s ruling. The question of whether the lower court erred in requiring the £43 million legal fee to be paid in British pounds sterling rather than naira was one of the points of contention in the P&ID appeal.
P&ID claimed that Nigeria financed legal services by exchanging the naira from its consolidated revenue stream.
READ ALSO: Trade Intelligence: How Nigerian Customs’ Data Gap Undermines Growth, Investment
In July 2024, the UK Court of Appeal dismissed P&ID’s appeal, ruling that because Nigeria paid the legal costs in pounds sterling, the cost order should also be paid in that currency.
P&ID then made a final appeal to the UK Supreme Court. The UK Supreme Court’s decision was swift and unanimous. It dismissed P&ID’s appeal, confirming that the contract was procured by bribery.
The court upheld the rulings of the lower courts, finding that the Gas Supply and Processing Agreement (GSPA) was fundamentally tainted by corruption from its inception.
The apex court also agreed that the lower court rightly overturned the $11 billion award due to the fraudulent manner in which it was secured.
READ ALSO: Rivers: Court Dismisses Three Suits Challenging Emergency Rule
The UK Supreme Court ruled that there was no basis for the award costs to be awarded in any currency other than sterling because English solicitors charged in that currency and Nigeria made payments in sterling.
Following P&ID’s argument that Nigeria converted naira to sterling to meet its financial obligations to its English solicitors, the Supreme Court panel refused to explore how Nigeria funded the legal bills.
The Supreme Court dismissed P&ID’s argument that if the award sum is paid in sterling, Nigeria “would gain a substantial windfall at its expense because the sterling sums which Nigeria paid to its solicitors were the equivalent of approximately 25 billion naira when they were paid and are now the equivalent of 95 billion naira.”
The panel ruled that the naira’s devaluation has “resulted in a significant diminution of the domestic purchasing power of the naira in Nigeria since 2019 and especially since 2023.”
The Supreme Court said, “This is not a case where Nigeria’s solicitors have submitted invoices in a currency other than sterling. English solicitors and counsel have conducted the litigation on behalf of Nigeria in the courts in London. They have charged fees and disbursements in sterling, and Nigeria has paid those bills in sterling.
A costs judge will assess their bill of costs in sterling. There is no reason to award costs in this case other than in sterling.
“For all these reasons, which are essentially the same as those given by the Court of Appeal, we conclude that Knowles J did not err in law in the exercise of his discretion.
“We add as a postscript that, contrary to P&ID’s submission, Nigeria does not enjoy a large windfall from this decision. The depreciation of its currency internationally has resulted in a substantial diminution of the domestic purchasing power of the naira in Nigeria since 2019 and especially since 2023.
“Since the hearing, the court has received submissions from the parties on costs.
“We would dismiss the appeal and award Nigeria their costs on the standard basis.”
The UK Supreme Court’s dismissal marks the definitive end of one of the most controversial and high-stakes legal sagas in recent history, firmly establishing that contracts and arbitration awards built on a foundation of corruption will not be enforced by the law.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist, scholar and analyst of socioeconomic issues in Nigeria and Africa. He is skilled in energy reporting, business and economy, and holds a master's degree in mass communication.
