The Federal Government has reacted to the loss of its $1.7bn court case against JP Morgan Chase Bank in a London High Court.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed that the government will study the judgment of the commercial court and take appropriate action.
Mohammed made the disclosure on Wednesday in a chat With State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to the minister, the government’s lawyers would study the judgment and advise whether to appeal or accept the court verdict.
Recall that the Federal Government of Nigeria had dragged JP Morgan bank to court on the ground of breaching its Quincecare duty.
The Nigerian government claimed that the bank should have known that there was corruption and fraud in the transaction which saw Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd sell its 100 percent stake in OPL 245 to Shell and ENI for $1.1 billion in 2011.
It argued that the action of JP Morgan breaches the rules which oblige banks to disregard a customer’s instructions if following those instructions might actually facilitate fraud against that customer.
Nigeria contended in a six-week trial that the US investment bank acted carelessly when it transferred $875 million in payments from government accounts to Dan Etete, a former Minister of Petroleum, who had been convicted of money laundering between 2011 and 2013.
The Nigerian government was seeking damages of around $1.7 billion including interest due to JP Morgan’s alleged ignorance of “glaring” red flags, including “overwhelming” evidence of fraud and stark warnings from its compliance staff when it authorized the payments.
According to Nigeria, JP Morgan should have halted the transfer of $875 million in payments from government accounts to Etete.
