Nigeria gets more time to appeal $10bn gas fine

A London court has granted Nigeria more time to appeal against a nearly $10bn (£7.5bn) fine in a case with a UK-based company in relation to a major botched project to develop a gas processing plant.

Nigeria had sought permission to appeal against the multi-billion dollar fine despite missing the original appeal deadline last year. The court says it can now file its challenge but has not specified any time frame.

In 2010 a deal to develop a gas-processing plant was awarded to Process Industrial and Developments (P&ID) but it later collapsed.

The UK-based company had said the contract collapsed because Nigeria did not honour its part of the deal - leading to a legal battle and a fine against Nigeria in 2013.

The fine was originally $6.6bn but interest has accrued in the seven years since.

Nigeria’s Justice Minister Abubakar Malami told the BBC the country will continue to pursue the case to ensure the fine is overturned.