Nigeria loses as court insists CBN must pay businessman $21m

Nigeria loses as court insists CBN must pay businessman $21m

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has granted Nigerian businessman Louis Emovbira Williams permission to withdraw $21 million from a Nigerian account held at JP Morgan, which contains funds from crude oil sales to foreign entities.

In August, Judge Liman Lewis rejected Nigeria’s attempt to dismiss Mr. Williams’ complaint.

The businessman had been embroiled in a food importation deal with the Nigerian government in 1986, during which he lost $6.5 million. Upon returning to Nigeria to recover his money, he was allegedly subjected to torture by the Department of State Services (DSS) and was tried for “economic sabotage.”

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was released after three years, in 1989.

In 1993, under the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, Mr. Williams was granted a presidential pardon and received a “Fidelity Guarantee and Abiding Memorandum of Understanding of Assurance” promising him repayment of $6.5 million, along with 17 percent compound interest since 1986, plus an additional N5 million with 25 percent compound interest.

Despite this, Mr. Williams never received the payments owed to him.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) remained unwilling to settle the sum, leaving the issue unresolved for decades. Following Nigeria’s return to civilian governance, Mr. Williams took legal action in the UK, where the court ruled in his favor, ordering Nigeria to refund him, along with compensation.

In 2018, Justice Mary Clare Moulder of the UK’s Queen’s Bench Division authorized the seizure of $21,231,960.74 and £19,763,130 from Nigeria’s JP Morgan account. Mr. Williams pursued further legal action in New York to recover the funds, where the defendants include the Nigerian government, the attorney general, the CBN, JP Morgan, and unnamed parties.

READ ALSO:

• Man arrested in Rivers for abusing victims lured from dating apps
• Nigeria, Libya begin talks over construction of regional gas pipeline
• WASSCE: Ghanaian students attack teachers for not allowing cheating

The CBN sought to move the case to a lower court, arguing Nigeria’s sovereign immunity protected it from UK court rulings. However, Judge Liman ruled that Nigeria had already waived its sovereign immunity under the terms of the 1993 Fidelity Guarantee.

“Therefore for the avoidance of doubt, both the Nigerian State and CBN must be deemed to have waived any immunity from levying of execution on amount kept in the name of CBN or State of Nigeria or any institution of Nigeria (save diplomatic) to the extent to which any amount in paragraph above remains unpaid,” stated the 1993 Fidelity Guarantee issued to Mr. Williams.

Judge Liman dismissed Nigeria’s claim to immunity, asserting that the waiver in the Guarantee applied to any legal proceedings regarding the enforcement of judgments related to Mr. Williams’ funds.

“Accordingly, the Fidelity Guarantee reflects a waiver of sovereign immunity for any proceeding in any court to recognize and enforce a judgment pertaining to Plaintiff’s seized funds,” the U.S. judge said in his August 12 ruling.

Despite the ruling, the Nigerian government is appealing the decision in the Second Circuit Court in New York. The case follows other legal disputes involving Nigeria’s assets abroad, including a similar case in Washington D.C., where Chinese investors were awarded the right to seize Nigerian assets following a failed free trade zone agreement.

Mr. Williams has expressed his intention to use the recovered funds to support children’s health and education initiatives in Nigeria.

(PEOPLES GAZETTE)

Nigeria loses as court insists CBN must pay businessman $21m