Amidst reports of an alleged talks with the Federal Government of Nigeria, British firm, the Process and Industrial Development has denied negotiating the recent judgement of a United Kingdom which affirmed that it is owed $9.6bn by Nigeria.
This came as both Nigeria and the firm are set for a legal showdown in a push by the Federal Government to have the controversial judgment set aside in the UK court on Thursday (today).
The P&ID’s denial of an out-of-court negotiation with Nigeria over the judgment, followed media reports that it made the offer to have talks with the Federal Government after its conviction for fraud, tax evasion and other sundry offences by the Federal High Court, Abuja, on September 19, 2019.
Responding to Journalists inquiries, an official of a London-based public relations firm, iNHouse Communications, which has been receiving and responding to public enquiries about P&ID in relation to the $9.6bn judgment, Chris Rogers, said such “suggestion” of an offer to negotiate with Nigeria was false.
Responding to an earlier enquiry if such negotiation was going on, Rogers said, on Wednesday, “I have checked, and any suggestion that negotiations have commenced is entirely false and incorrect”.
Earlier on September 1, the company expressed its readiness to negotiate with Nigeria over the $9.6bn judgment.
The company, however, advised the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to “appoint and authorised a party to enter into real negotiations” instead of what it called the Nigeria’s “baseless slander and sham investigations against P&ID and its founders”.
The firm said in a response to our correspondent’s enquiry, “If the Nigerian government is serious about a willingness to negotiate then it must do so in good faith.
