A Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday ratified the appointment of a liquidator by the Federal Government, acting through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for Process and Industrial Developments (Nigeria) Limited (P&ID Nigeria).
The liquidator is to help the Federal Government trace and secure all assets and property of the P&ID Nigeria, which the court had earlier ordered to be forfeited to the Nigerian government following the firm’s conviction in a September 19, 2019 judgement.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, in an ex-parte ruling yesterday , after listening to FG’s lawyer, Bala Sanga, made the ratification order for “the appointment of Messrs Christie Makar of Lexfield Chambers, 7 Dunukofia Street, Dulux Paint building (behind), near Southern Fried Chicken, Area 11, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria, as the liquidator of P&ID Nigeria.”
Justice Ekwo ruled that:
* the terms of appointment of the said Messrs Christie Makar shall be as contained in the Deed of Appointment dated 12° December, 2019
* Process and Industrial Developments (Nigeria) Limited (P&ID Nigeria) is a debtor to the Federal Government of Nigeria upon its assets having been forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria wherever situate or found as at 19th September 2019.
*The complainant/applicant is hereby ordered to file the order convicting and winding-up Process and Industrial Developments (Nigeria Limited (P&ID Nigeria) with the CAC (Corporate Affairs Commission) forthwith.
*The complainant/applicant is hereby ordered to file the Deed of Appointment of the liquidator of Process and Industrial Developments (Nigeria) Limited (P&ID Nigeria), dated 12th December 2019 with the CAC forthwith.
In the September 2019 ruling, the court convicted Process and Industrial Development Limited and its affiliate in Nigeria, P&ID Nigeria Limited, on an11-count charge filed by the EFCC over the firms’ unlawful conduct in relation to the controversial Gas Supply Project Agreement (GSPA), over which an arbitration tribunal that sat in London awarded damages estimated at about $9.6 billion against Nigeria.
They were, among others, found guilty of fraudulently claiming to have acquired land from the Cross River State Government in 2010 for the Gas Supply Project Agreement (GSPA).
The two companies were represented at the arraignment earlier on Thursday by Mohammad Kuchazi, described as Commercial Director, P&ID Ltd, Virgin Island, and Adamu Usman, identified as representative of P&ID Nigeria Limited.
The two men pleaded guilty to the charge. While Usman, who is a lawyer represented himself, Kuchazi was represented by a lawyer, Dandison Akurunwua.
Justice Ekwo, after convicting both firms, ordered, among others, that they be wound up and that their property and assets be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The ex-parte motion granted yesterday is part of the efforts to execute the court’s judgment given on September 19, 2019. (The Nation)
