The Director of Process and Industrial Development Ltd., Mr. James Nolan, has been taken into custody in Italy, according to the International Criminal Police Organization. Nolan, an Irishman is said to have skipped bail in 2022 in connection with the current $9.6 billion P&ID scandal in Nigeria.
An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission source however confirmed to newsmen that he was on January 27, arrested by the INTERPOL while on a visit to his wife, an Italian.
The EFCC official claimed, “Yes, we got the information through informant sources.” According to the source, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs planned to request Nolan’s extradition from INTERPOL to face trial in Nigeria. Counsel for Nolan, Paul Erokoro, in a telephone chat, said he had also heard about Nolan’s arrest, noting that only the EFCC can confirm it.
“There is a report that James Nolan was arrested but the EFCC is actually in a better position to confirm. They might have heard from INTERPOL. But I have not spoken to him (Nolan) and I don’t have firsthand confirmation but I have heard about the report,” Erokoro said.
Nolan was also reported to be at the centre of the controversial Gas Supply Processing Agreement which was signed in 2010.
Following his arraignment and plea of not guilty to the charges, a Federal High Court in Abuja, on November 7, 2019, initially granted him bail in the sum of N500 million.
However, due to his inability to meet the bail conditions, the bail amount was later reduced to N100 million.
Meanwhile, after perfecting his bail conditions, he failed to appear in court for trial since 2022. Another court, where Nolan was also facing legal proceedings, revoked his bail on September 28, 2022.
The judge at the time, Justice Ahmed Mohammed issued a bench warrant for his arrest due to bail violation.
Mohammed ordered security agencies, including INTERPOL, to arrest him anywhere he was sighted within or outside Nigeria and be produced in court to stand trial.
The order was made after the anti-graft agency’s lawyer, Bala Sanga, made an application to the effect. The judge also granted the EFCC’s request to continue his trial in absentia.
