The House of Representatives has set up an ad hoc committee chaired by Sada Soli (APC, Katsina) to investigate the recent judgment debt of $9.6 billion against Nigeria by a UK court in favour of Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) Limited.
The House recommended appropriate sanctions where necessary without fear or favour or preference for status in line with Order 14 of the Standing Orders of the House, against those involved in the contract that led to the judgment debt.
It further resolved to initiate a process of reviewing all agreements and treaties signed by
Nigeria through the appropriate committees to create opportunities to discover anomalies and avoid a repeat in the future.
These resolutions were reached Wednesday during plenary, sequel to a motion on the urgent need to ‘Investigate the Act of Negligence in the Handling of the Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) Limited’s Transaction by the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Petroleum Resources Respectively’, sponsored by Julius Ihonvbere (APC, Edo).
Ihonvbere, while presenting the motion, said the House noted that the recent judgment debt of $9.6 billion (with daily interest accruing) by a commercial court in the United Kingdom against Nigeria, in a matter between P&ID Limited, leaves very sour taste in the mouth.
He said that for a country “with a foreign reserve of only $45 billion and a sovereign debt profile of over $80 billion”, this judgment debt would devastatingly affect the Nigerian economy.
He said the House was aware of Nigeria’s “penchant for disregarding the sanctity of contracts and terms of agreement”, as well as every other thing that had gone on with the Gas Supply and Processing Agreement (GSPA) with P&ID Limited, in January 2010, through the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
He said the embarrassing judgment “exposes a deep decay in our governance and leadership infrastructure with far-reaching implications for the credibility of the country’s capacity to handle business and legal cases”.
The House of Reps also urged the Federal Government to confer National Honour on Allen Onyema, chairman of Air Peace, for conveying Nigerians free of charge from South Africa in the wake of xenophobic attacks.
The House also resolved to make Air Peace the official airline of the National Assembly in appreciation of the selfless and patriotic service of the chairman of the group.
These resolutions were reached during Wednesday plenary following a motion moved by Adulrazak Namdas (APC, Adamawa) on the Need for the Federal Government to give National Honour to Onyema who appeared before the House for appreciation on the invitation of the speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Namdas while moving the motion said the House noted that Onyema released his aircraft to convey Nigerians during xenophobic attacks in South Africa and that he did not collect any money and none of his family members was affected.
The motion was seconded by Ibrahim Isiaka (APC, Ogun) who acknowledged that indigenes of his state benefited immensely from the gesture as Ogun was reported to have the highest number of returnees. He commended Onyema for being a symbol of hope for Nigeria.
The motion was unanimously adopted when put to voice vote while members in their various contributions poured encomiums and eulogies on the chairman of Air Peace, pointing out his previous contributions to national development such as in the Amnesty programme and Almajiri schools.
Ruling, Speaker of the House, Gbajabiamila said his office would immediately write a letter of commendation to Air Peace Airline and transit the resolutions of the House to the president for further action.
