The Nigerian government is said to be seeking the arrest, via Interpol, of two directors from Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID), an Irish company with which it is locked in a legal battle.
Reports from Nigeria have suggested the administration is seeking to issue a Red Notice for Brendan Cahill and Adam Quinn. The two men are linked to P&ID, which in mid-August, won a court ruling in England ordering Nigeria to pay $9.6 billion in compensation for a gas scheme that went awry.
A statement from P&ID said the plan from Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to issue a Red Notice was a “desperate and pathetic effort” to prevent the enforcement of the arbitration award.
“The Nigerian government’s allegations have been consistently rejected in court: as a result, they are resorting to threats, bullying and legal nihilism. The application to Interpol is just more of the same: the use of violence and the organs of state power to threaten, detain, charge and jail innocent individuals linked to P&ID,” the statement continued.
Nigeria has denied the legitimacy of the contract with P&ID, which signed a contract in 2010 for a plant to use associated gas in Calabar. The country is seeking to overturn the English court ruling, but has been required to put up $200mn as surety.
In addition to the alleged use of Interpol, Nigeria is prosecuting individuals already on its territory linked to P&ID. Two officials were found guilty in September of money laundering and economic sabotage.
A court hearing on October 21 saw charges filed against James Richard Nolan, and Adam Quinn in absentia, for 16 counts of money laundering. The case is based on their directorships of Goidel Resources, which has allegedly failed to comply with local requirements and for failing to report a deposit of $125,000 to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Quinn’s father, Michael, set up P&ID and died in 2015.
The two men registered not guilty pleas and Nolan was denied bail. A court date has been set for November 20.
The EFCC has also filed charges against a former director in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Grace Taiga. The official is said to have helped P&ID and its directors to secure an agreement in exchange for a payment of $10,000. She was freed on bail in late September but has missed further court dates as a result of ill health.