$10bn P&ID Judgement: FG Makes U-Turn On Negotiation …Inaugurates Nigerian Law Reform Commission

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), yesterday, ruled out a negotiation with the British Virgin Island firm, Process and Industrial Development (P &ID), over the $10billion judgment it obtained against Nigeria.
This came as a reversal of his position expressed in a live interview on Arise TV, last Wednesday, when he gave indication that the government would keep the window of negotiation with P&ID open.
“Generally speaking, when it comes to judicial proceedings or perhaps arbitral proceedings for that matter, one cannot rule wholeheartedly with clear finality, conclude that there should not be perhaps any room for the possibility of settlement,” he had said in the interview when asked about the possibility of a settlement talks with P&ID.
But a statement by Malami’s spokesman, Umar Gwandu, yesterday, the minister was quoted as saying that that the government would not negotiate with P&ID as the process leading to the arbitral award it obtained against Nigeria was rooted in fraud.
Malami said, “There will be no negotiation or talk of settlement with P&ID or any related party by or on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“The recent judgment of the English Commercial Court confirmed our view that P&ID and its cohorts are fraudsters who have exploited our country. They will not benefit from their corrupt behaviour.”
He said it was “a classic case with overwhelming fraudulent and corrupt undertones”, adding that the P&ID transaction did not fall into the category general principle of settlement talks that he expressed on Arise TV on Wednesday.
He added, “The Federal Government of Nigeria is not considering any possibility of negotiations with P&ID.
“It has not only fallen within the tall order exception referred to by the Hon Attorney General in his interview with Arise TV, yesterday, but lacks any legitimate foundation.
“We will not and cannot negotiate arbitral awards where the basis and foundation rely on fraud, corruption, breach of processes and procedures.
“The Government remains wholly committed to fighting this case to overturn the exorbitant award without paying a single naira of public money to these fraudsters.”
In another development, the Attorney-general and Minister of Justice at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abubakar Malami, yesterday, inaugurated the Nigerian Law Reform Commission.
Malami named Prof Jummai Audu as the chairman; Barrister Bassey Dan-Abia as commissioner; Hon Muhammad Ibraheem as commissioner; and Dr Muhammad Aminu as the secretary of the commission.
The Nigerian Law Reform Commission was established in July, 1979 by the Nigerian Law Reform Commission Act, Cap. N118, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The commission since then has been placed under the ministerial supervision of the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, chaired by a chairman.
The functions of the commission, according to the Minister of Justice, are to, generally take and keep under review all Federal Laws with a view to their systematic and progressive development and reform in consonance with the prevailing norms of the Nigerian society.
He said the commission may also provide expert advice and information to Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, the National Assembly or other bodies with regards to proposals for the reform or amendment of laws.
The commission is also empowered to consider proposals for reform of state laws from any state, group of states or all the states in the Federation and submit reports thereon to the appropriate Attorney-General or Attorneys-General.
In his words, Malami said that “Generally, scholars regarded law reform as the process of weeding out and replacing the obsolete laws within the legal system to attune the applicable laws to the prevailing realities and norms in the society.
“Therefore, the importance of law reform cannot be overemphasized because of its relevance to the socio-economic and political development of any nation. It is uniformly agreed that law as an instrument of social engineering always served as the instrumentality of meaningful reform in any civilized society.
“With this in mind, the Nigerian Law Reform Commission (Commission) was established in Nigeria through Decree No. 7 of 1979 with a view to keeping Nigerian laws in a perpetual review.”
He urged the newly inaugurated members of the commission to discharge their functions and be guided by the extant provisions of the commission’s constitution.