A High Court in London has granted permission to Nigeria to proceed with its case against a bank in the United States of America, JPMorgan Chase, accused of enabling the misappropriation of state funds totalling $875m over the Oil Prospecting License, OPL 245.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), said this on Friday through a statement issued on his behalf by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Salihu Isah.
Isah, in the statement that a 26-page verdict of the London Court presided by Justice Andrew Burrows had ruled on Thursday that Nigeria had “reasonable grounds” for bringing a claim to the commercial division of the High Court.
According to Isah, the court’s verdict implied that Nigeria could now proceed to trial against the bank.
JPMorgan Chase was said to have argued earlier this month that Nigeria’s case should be dismissed on the grounds that it received sufficient approvals from Nigerian authorities before allowing the transfer of funds from a government account to those controlled by former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dan Etete who is convicted of money laundering.