NIGERIA WON’T PAY $9BN IN GAS DEAL DISPUTE

NIGERIA will not relinquish assets to a firm that is registered in the British Virgin Islands following a court ruling related to a $9 billion (R137.55bn) gas project dispute, the West African country’s information minister said yesterday in the capital Abuja. Earlier this month a judge in London granted Process and Industrial Developments the right to attempt to seize some $9bn in assets from the Nigerian government over an aborted gas project. The $9bn sum would be one of the largest financial penalties imposed on Nigeria, representing 20 percent of the currency reserves of Africa’s largest economy and top oil producer. Information Minister Lai Mohammed – addressing journalists alongside the finance minister, attorney-general and central bank governor in the capital, Abuja – said it would not relinquish any assets. “The federal government is taking all necessary steps to appeal the decision of the UK court, to seek a stay of execution of the decision, to defend its rights and to protect the assets of the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said. | Reuters