The Federal Government has linked the contract which led to a judgement debt of $9.6billion(N3.5trillion) to the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.
It also protested against the award of the judgment debt and claimed that it cannot stand.
It also said President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the National Intelligence Agency( NIA) and the Inspector-General of Police to probe the criminal conspiracy behind the failed contract.
The government said the contractor, Pocess and Industrial Developments Ltd. (P&ID) did not execute the conteact
The government made the clarifications at a joint briefing in Abuja by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alh. Lai Mohammed alongside the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami(SAN), the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele.
Mohammed said: “We have invited you here today to brief you on the recent judgement of a UK Court authorizing Process and Industrial Developments Ltd. (P&ID) to seize 9.6 billion dollars in Nigerian assets, over a contract entered into by the company and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in 2010. We will quickly run you through the issues at stake as well as what the Nigerian government is doing to stave off any seizure of its assets. We do hope that by the time we conclude this briefing, the media would have been better informed on the whole issue, hence will be better placed to inform Nigerians and clear the misrepresentations in certain circles.
“The judgement that was delivered on Friday, 16 August 2019 is a fallout of the contract purportedly entered into in 2010 between the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and P&ID. Please note that in the 20-year Gas Supply Processing Agreement (GSPA) purportedly entered into with the P&ID in 2010, the company never performed as agreed.”
Malami said the, “contract was designed to fail.
“We investigating the criminal conspiracy. ”
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ahmed said, “this judgment cannot stand. It is about N3.5trillion, which is the size of our national budget.”
The CBN Governor said P&ID, “did not invest one cent into this country and challengedthe firm to show proof.”