UK court orders $200m refund to Nigeria in gas plant suit

A London commercial court on Tuesday ordered that Nigeria be given the $200m (£156m) it deposited last year pending its appeal against the $10bn awarded to a firm over a failed gas plant.

Process and Industrial Development (P&ID), a British Virgin Islands-registered firm, had in 2017 won a $6.6bn arbitration award after the West African country failed to adhere to the terms of the 2010 contract.

Last year, a UK court ruled that Nigeria's assets could be seized if it did not pay the bill that had accrued to about $10bn.

Nigeria was allowed to appeal but told to pay a deposit of $200m.

On Tuesday, the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that the "London Commercial Court [had] ordered the release of the $200m guarantee".

"The court also awarded a £70,000 ($90,000) cost in favour of Nigeria in addition to an earlier award of £1.5m," it said in a statement on Twitter.

Nigeria’s Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami, said in a statement that the government is happy with the successes recorded so far in the case.