Nigeria has again recorded another arbitration victory to the tune of $6.2 million (approximately N9.3 billion).
The victory is coming barely three years after the country upturned a judgment debt of about $11 million in the Process and Industry Development (P& ID) Gas Agreement deal.
While in the case of P& ID, the London arbitration had dismissed allegations of contract breach against the Federal Government, after establishing manifest corruption in the contractual agreement, in the latest case between an international technology contractor, European Dynamics UK Ltd, the tribunal held that the complainant failed to meet its responsibility, regarding the delivery of the products it is seeking compensation for damages.
A statement by Kamarudeen Ogundele, SA to the President (Communication and Publicity), Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, on Sunday, disclosed that the favourable judgment was delivered by Mrs Funmi Roberts (Sole Arbitrator) on February 3, 2026, who sat at the International Centre for Arbitration and Mediation, Abuja.
According to the statement, European Dynamics UK Ltd had dragged the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) to the arbitration tribunal over alleged breach in the execution of a national e-Procurement project.
The statement while noting that the contract concerned the design, development/customisation, supply, installation and maintenance of a national electronic Government Procurement (eGP) system financed with support from the World Bank, it clarified that at the centre of the dispute was the User Acceptance Test (UAT).
It explained that the UAT, carried out by the BPP, identified significant functional deficiencies, including critical omissions and errors affecting system performance.
“Upon assuming office, the Director-General of the BPP, Dr Adebowale Adedokun, inherited a stalled technology project together with ongoing arbitration proceedings. European Dynamics UK Ltd had claimed approximately $2.4 million for alleged milestone completions, $3 million in general damages and an additional $800,000 settlement claims.
“Prior to Dr Adedokun’s appointment, there had been discussions around an out-of-court settlement. The Bureau, however, elected to continue with the arbitral process, maintaining that payments must be tied strictly to demonstrable value delivered. That led to the engagement of the specialised Nigerian legal team with expertise in technology contracting to review the technical and contractual issues in dispute,” the statement read in part.
Meanwhile, the statement disclosed that the bureau argued that unlike conventional supply contracts, where delivery may occur upon physical handover, software customisation projects are performance-validated.
The agency further submitted that delivery crystallises only upon satisfactory UAT confirming that the system operates in accordance with the technical requirements, statutory workflows, and operational environment for which it was commissioned.
However, after listening to all parties in the arbitration, the tribunal in the ruling, which is final and not subject to appeal, subsequently dismissed the contractor’s claims in its entirety, relieving Nigeria of potential financial exposure estimated at over $6.2 million (approximately N9.3 billion) in claimed payments and damages.
According to the statement, the tribunal accepted Nigeria’s position that these deficiencies in respect of the products fell within the vendor’s responsibility to remedy at no additional cost. It further held that the contractor, as the technical expert, bore the obligation to ensure that the delivered system complied with contractual requirements irrespective of earlier technical documents that might have been approved by the BPP.
The tribunal also found no evidence that the bureau consented to the merger of multi-phase modules into a single phase.
“Nothing in the contract suggests that such a merger is permissible, particularly given that payment is structured in phases. Consequently, the contractual framework was distorted,” it ruled.
As a result, the arbitrator dismissed all claims by European Dynamics UK Ltd in their entirety.
Meanwhile, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi,l (SAN), commended the Director General of the BPP, for his courage and the brilliance of the legal team.
Fagbemi, according to his media aide, Kamarudeen Ogundele, made the commendation during a formal presentation of the award to the AGF by Adedokun.
“Nigeria is a country blessed with both natural and human resources. This win sends a clear message to the international community: Nigeria has resonated. It is no longer business as usual. By standing up to European Dynamics, we have instilled courage in other African nations to protect their own resources,” he said.
The minister also commended President Bola Tinubu for sustained support to institutional strengthening within the justice sector, saying: “We have a leader, mentor and father that can always watch our back. If he says leave it, we have no choice… he wants to nurture strong institutions.”
Earlier, the BPP DG described the outcome of the arbitration as an important signal for public sector technology contracting.
“This particular vendor has taken various African countries to court and won every single case. Nigeria is the first to defeat them. We stood our ground against one of the best legal teams in the world because we believed in the expertise of our own Nigerian legal professionals,” he said.
He also expressed appreciation to the AGF for approving the proceedings, noting that without such support, Nigeria would have lost billions of naira that can now be spent on critical national development.
Meanwhile, the ruling is said to underscore the importance of rigorous User Acceptance Testing, clear milestone definitions, and expert-driven software delivery standards in government technology projects.
The legal representative for the BPP encouraged the incorporation of lessons from the arbitration into ongoing e-Procurement reforms to strengthen contract performance oversight and reduce the risk of future disputes.
The statement disclosed that Nigeria’s legal team was led by Johnson & Wilner LLP, a Nigerian business and technology law firm, with Basil Udotai Esq., Founding Partner, leading the arbitration together with the firm’s strategic partners and associates.
Credit: thisdaylive.com
