Gas Firm Owed $9 Billion by Nigeria Can Seek Asset Seizures
- Judge says Process & Industrial Developments can enforce claim
- Award may be largest financial liability in Nigeria’s history
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Process & Industrial Developments Ltd., a tiny natural gas company, won a London court ruling that may force the Nigerian government to pay it about $9 billion, potentially the largest financial liability in the African country’s history.
The closely held company can enforce an arbitration award that entitles it to the sum -- equivalent to almost 2.5% of Nigeria’s annual gross domestic product -- as though it were a U.K. court order, Judge Christopher Butcher said Friday in a ruling. That paves the way for P&ID, based in the British Virgin Islands, to start making applications to seize Nigerian assets in Britain.