More Fleecing of Nigeria By UK Firm In Billion Pound Lawsuit?

A fraud and corruption case that dates back to 1994, involves the Central Bank of Nigeria, Union Bank of Nigeria and the oil and gas firm Petro Union, over an alleged £2,550 billion fraud. It was alleged that Petro Union fraudulently procured a cheque from a branch of Barclays Bank in the UK with a value of £2,556 billion and presented it at one of Union Bank's branches in Lagos, with a claim that it had a contract purportedly for the purpose of constructing two refineries, a fertiliser plant and a cement paper bag plant, wrote Davidsen Iriekpen for ThisDay in April 2021.

The Supreme Court on July 5, 2021, fixed October 7, 2021 for a hearing in the motion filed by the Central Bank of Nigeria and others seeking leave of the court to appeal the £2,556 billion judgment entered against them by the Federal High Court in 2014.

The Court of Appeal also affirmed the judgment of the lower court. Not satisfied with the judgment, the appellants, which include CBN, Union Bank of Nigeria, the Minister of Finance, and the Attorney-General of the Federation, approached the court for leave to appeal the judgment, writes Alex Enumah for ThisDay.

This case follows a similar one heard in the UK between the Nigerian government and Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID), a gas exploration firm that claimed it was contracted to build refineries in Nigeria and laid the blame for their non-delivery at the door of the government, suing them for £9 billion - a ruling that was challenged by the Nigerian government in the UK.