Former Lagos State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Supo Shasore, has broken the silence over allegations that he let down his nation by allowing himself to be corrupted by P&ID, while also corrupting some public officials working for NNPC and the Ministry of Petroleum, with bribes totalling $200,000.

Shasore was the first lawyer Nigeria hired to defend its interest against the monstrous and fraudulent claim of almost $10 billion made by Irish company P&ID.

Sir Ross Cranston of the UK High Court of Justice Queen’s Bench Division Commercial Court put Shasore’s conduct under scrutiny in the judgment delivered on Friday, concluding that Shasore was compromised by the guys in P&ID.

But Shasore, on Saturday reacted to the allegations in the P&ID v FRN Case, saying that in the last 24 hours, he had been urged to break his deliberate silence about the efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria to find recourse against the arbitral award procured by P&ID based on a corrupt and fraudulent contract.

He said his choice of silence had been the result of his own high sense of responsibility as well as his commitment to the professional duty, which he undertook in representing the Federal Government in this case.

Shasore stated that he was relieved that the corrupt and fraudulent foundation of this case was affirmed in the recent ruling, though he was disappointed that part of the case made for that result was a case against him based on demonstrably false statements, unfounded innuendoes and spiteful personal attacks on his professional conduct and reputation.

“I was instructed in this matter and accepted the instructions on behalf of my firm and to the knowledge of my  partners in late 2012 and I made every effort to defend and vindicate my client at every stage with very few tools and with minimal support from within the government itself.

“I represented Nigeria up until the liability stage in the arbitration. I did not represent Nigeria in the damages stage of the arbitration. Which means I was not involved when the huge sum of damages was awarded against Nigeria. The complete records will show the series of steps that I took to defend Nigeria and the several results, which I secured in that effort at various stages.

READ ALSO  $10billion P&ID fraud: UK court nails Supo Shasore ex-Lagos AG

“None of these is consistent with the unfounded allegations that I failed to present the best available defense. With very little or no cooperation from relevant government officials at the time, I filed a jurisdiction objection that potentially could and should indeed have terminated the case in favour of Nigeria because it was clear to us from the beginning that the contract was a scheme against Nigeria.

“When the then Nigerian officials failed to supply documents or any witness to defend their case, I fought liability by enlisting the support of the legal adviser of NNPC who gave evidence to the best of his knowledge when everyone else with knowledge, refused to do so,” he explained.

According to Shasore, he instructed the UK firm of Stephenson Harwood, a respected international arbitration team and a leading Barrister to attempt to set aside the award on liability in England.

“We overcame numerous hurdles and faced a hostile tribunal, which relied on the testimony of a principal witness who had died before the hearing and whose testimony should have been discounted. It is on record that I fought had for the tribunal to dispense with that evidence. I am happy that the falsity of that testimony has now been recorded in the High Court in England.

‘Indeed, this was the ground on which I took the matter to the Federal High Court in Nigeria, which was the proper seat of the arbitration and successfully obtained an order setting aside the liability award. There was no basis to proceed to the damages hearing