The United Kingdom Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed by Process & Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID), confirming that the Federal Republic of Nigeria is entitled to recover its legal costs in pounds sterling (GBP) rather than in naira (NGN) after successfully challenging a multi-billion-dollar arbitral award.
In its judgment delivered on 22 October 2025, during Michaelmas Term [2025] UKSC 36, a panel led by Lord Reed, President of the Supreme Court, unanimously upheld the earlier decisions of both the Commercial Court and the Court of Appeal.
The justices agreed that costs should be paid in the same currency in which Nigeria incurred its legal obligations.
The case stemmed from Nigeria’s successful effort to set aside two arbitral awards in favour of P&ID—together worth over US$11 billion with interest—after the Commercial Court ruled in 2023 that the awards were “procured by fraud” and therefore void.
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Nigeria had spent £44.2 million on legal fees, billed and paid in sterling through 116 invoices between November 2019 and November 2024.
P&ID contended that the costs order should be made in naira, arguing that paying in pounds would unfairly benefit Nigeria due to the naira’s steep depreciation since 2023 when the currency was floated.
The Supreme Court rejected that argument. In a joint judgment delivered by Lord Hodge and Lady Simler, supported by Lords Reed, Stephens, and Richards, the Court held that a costs order serves as a statutory indemnity for litigation expenses rather than compensation for loss.
“As Nigeria incurred and paid its legal costs in sterling, the costs order must also be made in sterling,” the justices ruled.
The Court further noted that costs awards are discretionary, not compensatory, and warned that adopting P&ID’s position—requiring courts to examine how parties fund their legal fees—would lead to unnecessary and costly “satellite litigation.”
The ruling reinforces the legal principle that costs should be awarded in the same currency in which legal services were billed and paid, except in exceptional or abusive situations.
Ultimately, the Supreme Court dismissed P&ID’s appeal and ordered the company to pay Nigeria’s costs on the standard basis—marking another major victory for Nigeria in its long-running legal battle with P&ID following the 2023 annulment of the fraudulent US$11 billion arbitration award.
See photos of court judgment below:
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