NNPC Clarifies Award of N95bn against the Corporation by French Court

Says dispute already settled

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has provided clarifications on the reported award of N95 billion compensation against the corporation by a French court in favour of Lutin Investment Limited in a long standing dispute.

The spokesman of NNPC, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, said in a statement yesterday that the report, which made the headlines on Saturday was fraught with material inaccuracies, which could have been avoided if the reporter had taken reasonable care to fact check with NNPC.

He noted that the matter has since been laid to rest with the execution of Settlement Agreement between NNPC and Lutin Investment with the corporation paying the said amount as full and final settlement.

The NNPC explained that the saga began in 2007, when Lutin Investments Limited (Lutin) obtained an arbitral award against NNPC for the amounts stated in the story.

“While Lutin made several attempts to enforce the judgment within the Nigerian judicial system and by appealing to various successive government officials, including the past Attorneys-General mentioned in the story, and in various other jurisdictions, including the United States and France, NNPC resisted the enforcement of the judgment and sought to have the arbitral award set aside on grounds, inter alia, that the award was irregularly obtained,” said the statement.

NNPC noted that in late 2014, following appeals by Lutin to the federal government and after taking advice of NNPC’s external French counsel on the matter, NNPC offered to pay to Lutin the judgment sum it was awarded at the arbitral tribunal in 2007 if Lutin would waive all claims for interest and any additional amounts.

“Lutin accepted this offer, the parties entered into a Settlement Agreement to that effect, NNPC subsequently paid the settlement amount and the matter was thus finally settled,” the statement added.

The corporation further stated that it was an express condition of the settlement that both parties waived any benefits that might accrue to them from the judgment of the French court, which at the time was imminent and which French counsel advised would not be stopped by the settlement.

The corporation noted that subsequently, the French court rejected NNPC’s challenge to the arbitral award.

NNPC also stated that contrary to the news story, the French court did not set aside the Settlement Agreement entered into between NNPC and Lutin in November 2014.

According to the corporation, the agreement was not in issue at all in the French court.

“The only issue before the court was whether to uphold an order of 2007 made by a lower court in France recognising the arbitral award,” NNPC said.

NNPC further disclosed that its position based on the facts set out above, is that Lutin cannot seek to enforce the French judgment having expressly waived its rights to any benefits that might accrue from the judgment and having accepted the payment of the amount awarded to it in the arbitration (excluding interest and costs) as full and final settlement of all controversies between the parties.

“Therefore, as far as NNPC is concerned, all issues arising from the Lutin arbitration have been finally settled and there is no judgment debt of N95billion or any amount whatsoever due from NNPC to Lutin,” the statement concluded.