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ABUJA, NIGERIA —Nigerian authorities are praising a London high court ruling Monday that overturned $11 billion in damages stemming from a collapsed gas project between Africa's largest economy and a private company.
In a statement, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu lauded the London Business and Property Court's ruling in the 2010 gas deal, calling it a victory for what officials termed the "long exploited" African continent.
"Nation states will no longer be held hostage by economic conspiracies between private firms and solitary corrupt officials," Tinubu said.
Nigeria and Process and Industrial Developments, a firm based in the British Virgin Islands, signed the contract to construct a gas processing plant in Nigeria's oil-rich region.
The deal, however, fell through, and P&ID took the Nigerian government to court in Britain.
In 2017, an arbitration tribunal ordered Nigeria to pay a $6.6 billion contract award and interest to P&ID.
The government appealed that decision.
The court on Monday said the company had in 2010 paid a bribe to a Nigerian oil ministry official in connection with the deal.
The court also said that P&ID did not disclose that information when the deal failed to materialize and that two British lawyers defending the company stood to benefit if the court ruled in favor of the firm.
Nigerian political analyst Rotimi Olawale said the decision is a relief for Africa's biggest economy.
"Nigeria literally dodged a major bullet, knowing the foreign exchange issues the country is facing at the moment," Olawale said. "Getting a judgment of $11 billion would've been a big blow to Nigeria's financial situation."
The company's lawyers say they're disappointed by the outcome and are considering next steps. The firm has denied the fraud allegations and accused Nigeria of incompetence.
Nigeria's economy has been struggling with spiraling inflation and mounting debts for years. More recently, government reform policies have seen Nigeria's foreign exchange reserve dwindle significantly, increasing the scramble for U.S. dollars and weakening the local tender.
The $11 billion would have been about one-third of Nigeria's foreign exchange reserves.
Ebenezer Oyetakin, founder of the Anti-Corruption Network, said the ruling couldn't have come at a better time.
"It is an example of how many African countries have been mortgaging their economy," he said. "Definitely it would be of huge help to the dwindling Nigerian economy as we're witnessing currently. But we should not rest on our oars. We should continue to absolutely stand against corruption."
Olawale said Nigeria and all of Africa must address institutional corruption.
"The judgment should also give us an opportunity to tidy our home front," Olawale said. "I feel that Nigeria, like many developing countries, goes into all kinds of dubious contracting. It is on us as a nation to ensure that we do our due diligence and that we harmonize the process in which we do contracting with other parties."
Reports say the London court could decide to send the case back to arbitration or abandon it without delay.