P&ID: Fagbemi Commends UK Court for Ordering Payment of Judgement Cost in Pounds 

Alex Enumah in Abuja 

The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has commended a United Kingdom (UK) Court of Appeal for directing payment of Nigeria’s claim for the P & ID Post- judgement costs in Pounds Sterling (GBP).

The UK Court of Appeal had refused the request of the judgement debtor that the cost be paid in Naira; which would have reduced the legal cost drastically, the AGF stated while commending the appellate court for the ruling.

The minister in a statement on Friday by the Special Assistant to the President on Communications and Publicity, Office of the AGF, Mr Kamarudeen Ogundele, expressed delight at the report just received from the federal government’s UK solicitors on the latest victory recorded by Nigeria in its fight against corruption and extortion by “litigation hawks”

“Today (being the 12th day of July 2024), the United Kingdom Court of Appeal validated Nigeria’s claim for the post-judgment costs to be paid in Pound Sterling (GBP), the AGF stated.

Fagbemi said the P&ID request was another misconceived and desperate attempt by fraudsters to deprive the Nigerian people of hard-earned public revenue.

“As a government, we are very determined to recover these costs and make P&ID and its US funders pay for their scam so as to serve as a deterrence to others of their ilk.

“We commend the dedication and tenacity of our legal team for this accomplishment”, the AGF said.

Fagbemi recalled that consequent upon the country’s success in defeating the fraudulent USD11 billion claim by P&ID last year, Nigeria continues its efforts to recover its substantial costs from P&ID and its vulture fund backers.

The AGF noted that P&ID had tried to reduce drastically cost award claiming that Nigeria should only be entitled to recover its costs in Naira, which evidently will produce a much lower cost.