Grace Taiga, the former Director of Legal Services of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, who was accused of collecting bribes from Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited, has passed on.
Taiga reportedly died in September 2023 after battling kidney disease, but her demise was hidden from the public by her family.
According to TheCable, Taiga died in September 2023, after battling with kidney disease and will be buried in December in Delta State.
Taiga, who served in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and Defence before retiring on September 1, 2010, was widely mentioned in the ruling of a London court, quashing an $11 billion awarded against Nigeria in a case filed by P&ID.
She was arrested and charged to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations of receiving payments from P&ID to skew the controversial gas supply and processing agreement (GSPA) against Nigeria.
The London Court of International Arbitration awarded $6.6 billion plus seven per cent interest against Nigeria in January 2017 for breach of contract.
The EFCC alleged that Taiga received illegal payments from Marshpearl Limited, a company controlled by the owners of P&ID, through her daughter.
Taiga Continues Receiving Payments From P&ID
After retirement, she reportedly continued receiving payments from P&ID directors and was also accused of failing to follow due process in giving legal advice on the GSPA.
On September 20, 2019, a Federal High Court in Abuja remanded her at the Suleja prison after she pleaded “not guilty” to an eight-count charge of fraud levelled against her by the EFCC.
Days later, she was granted a N10 million bail by the court.
On Monday, Robin Knowles, justice of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales, upheld Nigeria’s request to set aside the $11 billion arbitration award on the ground that it was obtained by fraud.
Taiga had appeared as a witness of P&ID in the proceedings before Knowles and was cross-examined by Nigeria.
In his ruling, Knowles said Taiga “certainly had a role in bringing about” the controversial gas agreement.
The judge said he is “quite satisfied that Nigeria is correct in its allegations” that bribes were paid to Taiga before and after the contract on behalf of P&ID.
The judge rejected the claim that the money sent to Taiga on behalf of P&ID was for medical expenses, adding that the lawyer knew that the “payments were corrupt”.
