A UK judge on Monday lambasted two British lawyers who represented P&ID, the British Virgin Islands-based company that demanded $11 billion in damages from Nigeria over a failed gas project.
Nigeria won its bid to overturn the award given to Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) at arbitration, which is about the third of Nigeria’s foreign exchange. At the current official rate, the money amounts to N8.47 trillion — also a third of Nigeria’s proposed budget for 2024.
Judge Robin Knowles of London’s High Court said the case showed what some people would do for money, “driven by greed and prepared to use corruption; giving no thought to what their enrichment would mean in terms of harm for others”.
The judge singled the lawyers, who stood to receive hefty sums had Nigeria been forced to pay the more than $11 billion, for rebuke.
The two lawyers received confidential Nigerian documents during the arbitration that they knew they were not entitled to see, the judge determined, saying their decision to say nothing and not to return the documents was “indefensible”.
The judge said they did so “because of the money they hoped to make” and gave untruthful evidence about it. He said the lawyers had misconducted themselves out of greed, and said he was referring his ruling to regulators to review the conduct of the lawyers.
What the judge said:
“This case has also, sadly, brought together a combination of examples of what some individuals will do for money. Driven by greed and prepared to use corruption; giving no thought to what their enrichment would mean in terms of harm for others. Others that in the present case include the people of Nigeria, already let down in so many ways over the history of this matter by a number of individuals in politics and administration whose duty it was to serve them and protect them.
“I will be referring a copy of this judgment to the Bar Standards Board in the case of Mr Trevor Burke KC and to both the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board in the case of Mr Seamus Andrew. I trust that these two regulators of the legal profession in England & Wales will consider the professional consequences of the conduct of Mr Burke KC and Mr Andrew in relation to Nigeria’s Internal Legal Documents. As a separate matter, although there was argument before me about the acceptability of the remuneration arrangements for Mr Burke KC, that would be a satellite point for the issues I have the responsibility to decide and is best left for the regulator for whom it will be a central point.”
What lawyers would have received:
If the company had won the case, Seamus Andrew, who represented P&ID during the arbitration, would have received a hefty $3 billion, while Trevor Burke, an eminent criminal lawyer and a nephew of P&ID’s co-founder, would have received $850 million, Reuters reported.
Burke and Andrew said in separate statements they did not accept the judge’s criticisms and believed they would be exonerated by the regulators, Reuters reported.
The CASE
P&ID laid its claim on a 2010 gas contract it signed with the Nigerian government at the time.
In 2017, an arbitration tribunal had awarded P&ID $6.6 billion for lost profit after its 20-year contract to construct and operate a gas processing plant in southern Nigeria had fallen apart.
The sum had since swelled with interest to over $11 billion, representing 10 times the country’s 2019 health budget.
Judge Robin Knowles found that P&ID had paid bribes to a Nigerian oil ministry official in connection with the gas contract – as argued by the Nigerian government.
P&ID denied this and accused Nigeria of institutional incompetence.
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