By Obasola Olatunde
The United Kingdom Supreme Court has delivered a major victory to Nigeria, ruling that the country is entitled to recover £44 million in legal costs from Process & Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID) in pounds sterling, not naira, following its successful challenge of the fraudulent US$11 billion arbitration award previously granted to the firm.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday in Michaelmas Term [2025] UKSC 36, a panel led by Lord Reed, President of the Supreme Court, unanimously dismissed P&ID’s appeal, affirming earlier decisions of the Commercial Court and the Court of Appeal.
The apex court held that Nigeria’s costs must be paid in the same currency in which its legal obligations were incurred, noting that the country’s law firms had billed and been paid in sterling.
In the joint judgment by Lords Hodge and Simler, the court ruled that a costs order “is not intended to compensate for loss but represents a statutory indemnity for expenses incurred,” rejecting P&ID’s claim that payment in pounds would hand Nigeria a “windfall” due to the naira’s devaluation.
The justices further cautioned that converting such costs to naira or any other currency would “invite disproportionate and expensive satellite litigation” over how litigants fund their legal fees.
Nigeria had in 2023 successfully overturned the controversial $11 billion arbitration award in favour of P&ID after the Commercial Court found the contract had been procured by fraud and bribery. In doing so, Nigeria incurred £44.2 million in legal expenses between November 2019 and November 2024.
Thursday’s decision marks another resounding win for Nigeria in its long running legal battle with P&ID a case that once threatened the country’s foreign reserves and international reputation.
The Supreme Court ordered P&ID to pay Nigeria’s costs on a standard basis, reaffirming that cost awards should follow the currency of actual payment unless exceptional circumstances dictate otherwise.
