President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, through the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), has secured another major victory in a complex international arbitration dispute.
The case arose from a disagreement between the BPP and European Dynamics UK Ltd, an international technology contractor, over the implementation of Nigeria’s national e-Procurement project.
In the ruling, which was final and not subject to appeal, the tribunal dismissed the contractor’s claims in their entirety, relieving Nigeria of potential financial exposure estimated at over $6.2 million (approximately N9.3 billion) in claimed payments and damages.
Nigeria’s legal team was led by Johnson & Wilner LLP, a business and technology law firm, with Basil Udotai Esq., Founding Partner, leading the arbitration together with the firm’s strategic partners and associates.
Central to the dispute was the User Acceptance Test (UAT) carried out by the BPP, which identified significant functional deficiencies, including critical omissions and errors affecting system performance.
The bureau argued that unlike conventional supply contracts where delivery may occur upon physical handover, software customisation projects are performance-validated.
The tribunal accepted Nigeria’s position that these deficiencies fell within the vendor’s responsibility to remedy at no additional cost.
It further held that the contractor, as the technical expert, bore the obligation to ensure that the delivered system complied with contractual requirements irrespective of earlier technical documents that might have been approved by the BPP.
The tribunal also found no evidence that the Bureau consented to the merger of multi-phase modules into a single phase.
Consequently, the Sole Arbitrator, Mrs ‘Funmi Roberts, dismissed all claims by European Dynamics UK Ltd in their entirety.
The BPP DG, Dr Adedokun, during a formal presentation of the award to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), described the outcome as an important signal for public sector technology contracting.
Responding, the AGF commended Adedokun’s courage and the brilliance of the legal team.
He said that the win sends a clear message to the international community: Nigeria has resonated, and it would no longer be business as usual in her business dealings.
RN
