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Buhari, Not Jonathan to Be Blamed for $9bn Judgement Debt, Says P&ID
The attempt by President Muhammadu Buhari to pin the $9billion British court’s judgement debt on former President, Goodluck Jonathan, has been dismissed by the Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID), the very Irish company, that is in the thick of the entire saga.
P&ID in a clear statement, on Friday, completely absolved the former President of culpability and blamed both Buhari and the Attorney General, Abubakar Malami responsible for the development.
The company, in attempt to set the record straight, P&ID, detailed how the Buhari government, practically slept on the issue and accused Malami particularly of trying to revise history and introduce allegations of contract fraud.
Read the full statement:
Malami’s Revisionist History
It is another day, and with it comes another attempt from the Nigerian Government to create a fictional history of the P&ID case.
This week’s series of desperate conspiracy theories point to something deeper: the Buhari Administration is refusing to admit its own role in the P&ID case from 2015-2019 after it came into office.
Appearing on CNBC Africa, Attorney General Abubakar Malami sought to wipe his hands and the hands of the Buhari Administration clean when he stated, “[t]he government as a unit was delicately involved. And that was the government in 2010, the award was in 2012, and then three years thereafter the current administration under the leadership of Muhammadu Buhari came into place. So the time when this administration came to place in 2015, the award was over three years, there was no appeal, no application for execution, no application to set the award aside.”
Attorney General Malami seems to have a case of amnesia.
Let’s set the record straight:
May 3, 2015: P&ID offers to settle the dispute with the Nigerian Government for $850mm. President Goodluck Jonathan indicates they are handing over the negotiations to the incoming Buhari Administration.
May 29, 2015: Muhammadu Buhari is sworn in as the 15th President of Nigeria, but fails to appoint a cabinet for five months.
July 17, 2015: The Arbitration Tribunal found in favor of P&ID (i.e. – the Liability Award). The new Buhari Administration did not make any attempts at settling or negotiating with P&ID, and did not make any effort to challenge the decision.
November 11, 2015: Attorney General Malami was sworn in November 11, 2015, just under three months after the Liability Award.
May 27, 2016: The Arbitration Tribunal wrote to the Nigeria Government confirming that: “As the parties will be aware from Procedural Order No 12, the Tribunal has decided that the seat of the arbitration is England. It follows that the Federal Court of Nigeria had no jurisdiction to set aside its Award.” Neither Attorney General Malami, nor any representative of the Buhari Administration did anything in response other than continue with the proceedings, thereby tacitly accepting the analysis of the Arbitration Tribunal.
June 24, 2016: Having failed to set aside the Liability Award by falsely claiming the seat of arbitration was in Nigeria; not England, Attorney General Malami wrote personally to the arbitrators to say “my office has taken over the handling of the above arbitration on behalf of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.” He asked for and obtained an extension of time to file a defence to quantum, and appointed his own legal team in place of the Ministry of Petroleum Resource’s legal team.
August 30-31, 2016: The Quantum Hearing (i.e. – amount of damages payable) takes place in London. Attorney General Malami’s legal team conducted Nigeria’s defence at the quantum hearing. Expert witnesses as to quantum were called to give evidence and were cross-examined.
After the Quantum Hearing, Attorney General Malami instructed his lawyers to request a standstill agreement, which would take effect from the date of the Award.
This fact has never been publicly reported until today.
January 31, 2017: The Arbitral Tribunal issued a final award, ordering Nigeria to pay P&ID $6.5 billion plus $2.3 billion in uncollected interest as of March 2018.
February 17, 2017: The Award on Quantum was delivered to the parties on February 17, 2017. Despite the 60-day standstill having been agreed by P&ID, Attorney General Malami made no attempt to negotiate with P&ID during the 60 days following the handing down of the Quantum Award.
April 28, 2017: After the 60 days had expired, Attorney General Malami instructed his lawyers to write to P&ID’s lawyers and explained that “The delay was occasioned by the bureaucracy of the Federal Government in a bid to determine a reasonable strategy after receipt of the Arbitral award.” The Attorney General’s lawyers added: “we now have the authority of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to meet with the Claimant to negotiate the Terms of the Arbitral award.”
Today: In the lead up to the judgment by the English Commercial Court, Attorney General Malami allowed the time for acknowledging service in both the United States and London to lapse without filing any response. In both jurisdictions, Nigeria’s lawyers Curtis Mallet had to apply for ex post facto extensions of time and make the necessary apologies and explanations to the court.
In London, a senior Curtis Mallet partner explained that the Claim Form was “immediately filed and not passed up the chain of command” at the Ministry of Justice. The partner pleaded that “the delay was neither deliberate nor intended to be disrespectful to the Court.”
In the US, Curtis Mallet explained that the deadline was missed because they were in the process of being formally retained by the Nigerian Government and had been instructed to enquire about the potential for a settlement
The Attorney General’s pronouncements in the Nigerian press are a clear attempt to cover up his own incompetence and that of the Buhari Administration. This is a matter, which could have been settled shortly after he took office in November 2015 for $850 million. Instead, he personally took the decision to gamble on the arbitration and turned an $850 million liability into a $9.6 billion liability.
And at no time since has Attorney General Malami assumed responsibility has he raised any allegation of fraud or scam, either in the arbitration or in the subsequent enforcement proceedings. The reason for this is that there was no fraud. All of this raises serious concerns for foreign investors in Nigeria, whether you are investing in a commercial enterprise or buying Eurobonds. Not only will Nigeria deliberately refuse to pay an international arbitration award backed by an English Court, but they are prepared to launch sham investigations and character assassinations when all else fails.
This is a serious assault on the Rule of Law by a demonstrably dishonest administration.
Meanwhile, P&ID is now focused on vigorously enforcing its legal rights in the UK, including seizing Nigerian assets to satisfy the award. This will begin as soon as possible.
Source: whirlwindnews
Israel has confirmed that Iran fired 180 missiles into the country on Tuesday, adding that one person was confirmed dead from the attacks.
An AFP report stated as follows –
Everybody’s phone buzzed at once with an alert at around 19:30 local time.
It read: “You must enter a protected area immediately and remain there until further notice.”
The message was sent by the Israel Defence Forces’s Home Front Command and ended with the phrase “life-saving instructions”.
People began to head for shelter in safe rooms as missiles were launched towards Israel from Iran.
The sirens sounding across the country were heard by millions.
As the wail of the alarm rang outside, we moved to the shelter in the BBC’s Jerusalem Bureau – a secure part of the building with no windows.
We could hear frequent booms as missiles flew overhead and were intercepted by Israel’s defence system.
Videos captured here and elsewhere shared on social media showed streams of light as the missiles flew over Israel – and clouds of smoke as they were intercepted or detonated on impact.
“There’re loads of them,” a contact exclaimed in a video filmed in southern Israel that shows circles of light in the night sky.
At about 20:00, the IDF said its aerial defence array was identifying and intercepting the launches and called on people to “remain in a protected space until further notice”.
It continued: “The explosions you are hearing are from interceptions and fallen projectiles.”
Concern had been mounting across Israel as reports emerged early in the evening that Iran was preparing a strike.
It came hours after Israeli troops invaded Lebanon, in what its military calls a “limited, localised and targeted” ground operation against Hezbollah.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it launched the missiles in retaliation for recent attacks that killed the leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as a senior Iranian commander.
As missiles flew overhead, messages streamed in from people in different parts of the country, waiting in their safe rooms.
“There’s a lot of alarms all the time, so we’re in the safe room… But we’re OK for now,” a mother of two in the south of Israel told me by voice note.
“Very, very scary. I still cannot believe this is our life… it was VERY close,” a message from a journalist in Tel Aviv said.
“Usually we stay on our floor and don’t go down to the shelter but this time…we realised we had to go down.”
“It was very loud,” lawyer Efrat Eldan Schechter says by WhatsApp message from Ra’anana in central Israel, adding that she believes “it is not the end for tonight”.
“We need to see how it will evolve. It is very scary indeed… but we are strong and confident that our IDF will protect us. Iran just made a huge mistake.”
About an hour after the first message, phones again vibrated with a new alert from the Home Front Command, telling people they could leave shelters and protected areas.
Following the strikes, the IDF spokesperson said there were some hits in central and southern Israel.
Videos later shared on social media showed damage from the missiles in multiple locations, including a large crater in the ground near Tel Aviv.
The Palestinian civil defence authority in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho said a man there died during the Iranian missile barrage.
According to the AFP, which spoke to city governor Hussein Hamayel, the victim was killed by falling rocket debris.
Israeli officials have not reported any serious injuries as a result of Tuesday’s air attacks.
“At this stage, we don’t identify more launches from Iran. Stay responsible and listen to instructions,” IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised address.
Israel says at least 180 missiles were fired, most of them intercepted. It has said there will be “consequences”.
Foremost Yoruba socio-cultural organization,the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) has condemned the position of the Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele on regionalism, saying the lawmaker has lost the trust of the people he’s representing.
Recall that Senator Bamidele had at the National Assembly hearing on constitutional review rejected the bill to return Nigeria to regionalism saying if the lawmakers should allow regional system in Nigeria, it would automatically give the Easterners Biafra
The Publicity Secretary of the OPC, Barrister Yinka Oguntimehin, in a press statement on Tuesday noted that it’s unfortunate that Bamidele who was once a respected activist had also clamoured for a national conference to address the fundamental issues of restructuring in this country suddenly changed and became a centralist- minded person that is now rejecting the bill to return Nigeria to regionalism.
Oguntimehin said the lawmaker has failed to realize all the advantages inherent in regionalism, stating that Regionalism will allow cohesion, healthy competition and regional autonomy.
“It’ll enhance regional and internal security among the regions.
“Even a country with over 10 million people with such a multi-ethnic composition like Nigeria must have a federating unit that allows regional autonomy, regardless of the name you wish to call it, either regions or provinces. That is the normal thing all over the world.
“For instance, 50 states in the U.S are like a region. Also Ghana, a prominent country in Africa with a population of less than sixty million has a region. Even South Africa allows its provinces to develop at their own pace.
“It’s unfortunate that a man of Opeyemi Bamidele’s position, background and antecedents decided to go against the position of many Nigerians and selfishly narrow his thinking to play politics with such a sensitive issue and also believing that regionalism may later in the future give a particular ethnic nationality a country as he was referencing the Eastern region with the Biafra.
“He didn’t even see the wisdom in looking beyond his nose to see the possibilities and importance of regionalism as a potential tool for a successful federating unit.
“I wondered how an activist, a former student union leader, a Senate leader like him with a history of activism suddenly showed how political position and power can easily change his person.
“As far as we’re concerned, OPC condemns his position in totality and it’s unfortunate that he’s one of the representatives in Yoruba land.
“However, we urge him to change his views and position on this because as a foremost Yoruba socio-cultural organization, OPC is monitoring the events in the parliament and history will always judge whoever that goes against the wishes of Nigeria and Nigerians.
“I remember in the beginning of the OPC’s struggle, Senator Bamidele was one of the activists that was at the vanguard of the call for a national conference. He stood by the people then and now like a chameleon he suddenly changed.
“Let it be said that the only way Nigeria can move forward as a nation is to embrace regionalism where the regions develop at their own pace.
“Let it should also be said that for those whose position was that if we have regionalism, the central government will be weakened. That is not true, because the issue of the percentage of the resources to be allocated to the government at the centre will be addressed between the regions.”
Source: Independent
The Israeli military has said Iran has launched missiles at the country.
It added that sirens have sounded all across Israel and urged citizens to move to marked safe spaces.
The attack comes a short while after the US announced that it had received intelligence that Iran was planning an attack against Israel.
IRNA, Iran’s state-run news agency, confirmed that Tehran’s military has started launching ballistic missiles towards Israel.
Footage shared by media houses showed dozens of missiles flying across the sky towards Tel Aviv.
The missiles came as Israeli police said they received a report about a shooting attack in the Jaffa neighborhood of the city.
Police said the initial suspicion of motive is terror.
Multiple casualties were reported due to the attacks.
Iran said it targeted Israel in response to the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah leader, and other leaders.
“In response to the martyrdom of Martyr Haniyeh, Seyed Hassan Nasrallah and Martyr Nilfroshan, we targeted the heart of the occupied territories,” a statement from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said.
“If the Zionist regime reacts to Iran’s operations, it will face crushing attacks.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) urged Israelis to “remain alert and precisely follow the home front command’s instructions”.
“Upon hearing a siren, you must enter a protected space and remain there until further notice”, it added.
Meanwhile US President Joe Biden convened a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and top national security officials to discuss the Iran ballistic missile attack on Israel.
The US and Israel had warned that any attacks from Iran would have grave repercussions.
