In a landmark judgment delivered on 22 October 2025, the United Kingdom Supreme Court has ruled in favour of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in its £44 million legal costs dispute with Process & Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID).
The apex court, led by Lord Reed, President of the Supreme Court, dismissed P&ID’s appeal and affirmed that Nigeria is entitled to recover its legal costs in pounds sterling (GBP) rather than in naira (NGN). The ruling upholds earlier decisions of both the Commercial Court and the Court of Appeal.
The dispute arose after Nigeria successfully overturned two massive arbitral awards—worth over US$11 billion including interest—granted to P&ID, which were later declared fraudulent and void by the Commercial Court in 2023.
During its legal challenge, Nigeria incurred £44.2 million in legal fees, paid through 116 invoices between November 2019 and November 2024, all billed in sterling. P&ID had argued that the cost order should instead be made in naira, claiming that payment in pounds would give Nigeria a “windfall” following the currency’s depreciation since the naira was floated in 2023.
However, the Supreme Court rejected that argument, stating that a costs order “is not intended to compensate for loss” but serves as a statutory indemnity for expenses incurred.
“As Nigeria had incurred liability and made payments in sterling, the court ought to make a costs order in sterling,” the Justices ruled in a unanimous judgment delivered by Lord Hodge and Lady Simler, with Lords Reed, Stephens, and Richards concurring.
The decision reaffirms a key legal principle — that litigation costs must be awarded in the same currency in which legal services were billed and paid, except in rare or abusive circumstances.
With this ruling, P&ID’s appeal is dismissed, and the company is ordered to pay Nigeria’s costs on the standard basis, marking yet another significant legal victory for Africa’s largest economy in its long-running dispute with the Irish engineering firm.
