UPDATE 2-Nigerian court orders firm that won $9 bln case against government to forfeit assets

* Two Nigerians linked to P&ID pleaded guilty on its behalf
* P&ID says it was not notified of case
* "Cogent ground" for dismissing the award - AG
* Award stemmed from failed gas project

(Adds comments from the attorney general)
By Camillus Eboh and Libby George
ABUJA/LAGOS, Sept 19 (Reuters) - A company awarded more than
$9 billion in an arbitration case against Nigeria has been
ordered by a court in the capital Abuja to forfeit its local
assets to the government.
The order comes after two men linked to the company, Process
& Industrial Developments (P&ID), pleaded guilty to charges of
fraud and tax evasion on its behalf, the court said on Thursday.
The impact on the British Virgin Islands-based firm and its
international arbitration award, now worth some 20% of Nigeria's
foreign reserves, was not immediately clear.
Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
brought 11 individual charges against P&ID and its local
subsidiary. The two men, Muhammad Kuchazi and Adamu Usman,
pleaded guilty to all the charges on behalf of the company.
The men, both Nigerians, were not personally charged and
freely left the court.
In a statement, P&ID said the EFCC investigation had not
afforded basic human rights to those involved and called on the
government to "accept its responsibilities under the law."
"None of the individuals involved are current employees or
representatives of P&ID," the spokesman said. "P&ID itself has
received no communication from any Nigerian authority about the
investigation or today's hearing. There has been no evidence
produced, no defence allowed, no charges laid, no due process
followed," it said.
The EFCC described Kuchazi as commercial director, and Usman
as director of the company's local subsidiary.
The men could not immediately be reached for comment.
P&ID was set up to execute a 2010 deal with the Nigerian
government to build and operate a gas-processing plant in the
southeastern port city of Calabar. When the deal collapsed, P&ID
took the government to arbitration, eventually winning a $6.6
billion award that has been accruing interest since 2013.
Last month, a judge in London said he would grant P&ID the
right to convert the award to a judgment, which would allow it
to seek to seize assets from the Nigerian government to collect
the award. The government has said the deal was designed to fail, and
called the award "an assault on every Nigerian and unfair."
Nigeria's attorney general and justice minister, Abubakar
Malami, said Thursday's ruling gave Nigeria "a judicial proof of
fraud and corruption" in P&ID's founding.
"A liability that is rooted in fraud and corruption cannot
stand judicial enforceability," he said. "Nigeria now has a
cogent ground for setting aside the liability."
He said officials would travel to London next week to
prepare for a court date related to the case on Sept. 26.
The ruling in Abuja would not necessarily impact P&ID's
efforts to seize assets. A Lagos court ordered in 2016 that the
entire arbitration be set aside, but the arbitration tribunal
rejected the court's jurisdiction to rule on the matter - a
decision affirmed by last month's London ruling.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
EXPLAINER-Nigerian assets at risk worldwide in $9 bln
arbitration case says it will not relinquish assets in $9 bln gas project
dispute judge to allow firm to try to seize $9 bln in Nigerian assets
in gas dispute ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>