Nigeria loses sovereign immunity claim as U.S. court upholds $70m award to Chinese firm
Nigeria’s claim to sovereign immunity cannot stand in a commercial venture, a U.S. appeal court has ruled.
The court rejected Nigeria’s sovereign immunity defence to the enforcement of a $70 million investment treaty award won by Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd., a Chinese investor, in a free trade zone.
Nigeria had “gruesomely” violated both fundamental and commercial rights of the Chinese firm, judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington DC ruled.
In a 2-1 verdict delivered on August 9, the majority ruling affirmed the judgment of the US district court for the District of Columbia that held that the arbitration award is enforceable.
In January 2023, Beryl Howell, the presiding judge of the lower court, dismissed Nigeria’s argument that the court did not have jurisdiction over the case since the country is a sovereign entity.
Howell held that the court has jurisdiction since the United Kingdom (UK), where the $70 million arbitration award was issued against Nigeria, is a signatory to the New York Convention.
