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P&ID v. Nigeria, Petitioner’s Memorandum of Points & Authorities in Opposition to Respondents’ Motion to Dismiss, August 26, 2020

26 Aug 2020
Process and Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID) v. Nigeria Ministry of Petroleum Resources
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P&ID v. Nigeria, Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Respondents’ Renewed Motion, August 12, 2020
Document Details:
LISTED PARTICIPANTS
P&ID v. Nigeria, Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Respondents’ Renewed Motion, August 12, 2020
Participants listed are for this document only and may not include all participants involved in the entire case. Always consult the original documents.
Claimant appointee
Respondent appointee
Tribunal/Panel chair
Leonard Hubert Hoffmann
Arbitrator(s)
Anthony Evans, Christopher Adebayo Ojo, Leonard Hubert Hoffmann
Sole Arbitrator
ICSID Annulment Committee president
ICSID Annulment Committee members
WTO Appellate Body members
WTO Appellate Body chair
Judges
Claimant's counsel
Michael S. Kim, Josef M. Klazen, Darryl G. Stein, Christopher Cogburn
Claimant's law firm
Respondent's counsel
Respondent's law firm
Other counsel
Claimant's expert
Claimant's expert firm
Respondent's expert
Respondent's expert firm
Claimant's witness
Respondent's witness
Folakemi Adelore
Other witnesses
Tribunal secretary
Tribunal assistant
Third-party funder
Entities
Nigeria, Kobre & Kim, Process and Industrial Developments Ltd.
Country
Print reporter
Document Summary
P&ID v. Nigeria, Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Respondents’ Renewed Motion, August 12, 2020
This summary note is machine-generated. Always consult the original materials.

Procedural Posture

This document is a Memorandum of Points and Authorities filed by Petitioner Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID) in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The memorandum opposes the motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction filed by Respondents, the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its Ministry of Petroleum Resources, under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA).

Principal Legal Issues and Parties' Positions

The principal legal issue is whether the District Court possesses subject matter jurisdiction over P&ID's petition to confirm a $6.6 billion arbitral award under the arbitration and implied waiver exceptions of the FSIA. Nigeria contends that the court lacks jurisdiction because a Nigerian court purportedly set aside the underlying liability award, arguing that an enforceable award no longer exists.

In opposition, P&ID argues that the FSIA's arbitration exception strictly requires only a prima facie showing of an arbitration agreement and an ensuing award governed by the New York Convention, both of which exist as a matter of fact. P&ID asserts that the enforceability of the award under Article V(1)(e) of the New York Convention is a merits inquiry distinct from the threshold jurisdictional determination under the FSIA. Furthermore, P&ID contends that the Nigerian courts lacked supervisory jurisdiction to set aside the award. Relying on the tribunal's Procedural Order No. 12 and a subsequent English High Court judgment, P&ID maintains that London was the exclusive juridical seat of the arbitration, thereby vesting exclusive supervisory jurisdiction in the English courts.

Additionally, P&ID argues that jurisdiction is independently established under the FSIA's implied waiver exception. By acceding to the New York Convention and expressly agreeing to arbitrate in the United Kingdom—another Convention signatory—Nigeria implicitly waived its sovereign immunity from award enforcement proceedings in the United States.

Requested Relief

P&ID requests that the District Court deny Nigeria's motion to dismiss, asserting that the purported Nigerian set-aside order does not vitiate subject matter jurisdiction under the FSIA and that the court should proceed to the merits of the confirmation petition.