In a major legal victory for the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria has successfully defeated a $6.2 million claim filed by European Dynamics UK Ltd in an international arbitration over a stalled national electronic procurement project. The final ruling, which is not subject to appeal, dismissed the contractor’s claims in their entirety, protecting approximately ₦9.3 billion in public funds.
The dispute arose from a World Bank financed contract awarded for the design, installation and maintenance of an electronic Government Procurement system managed by the Bureau of Public Procurement. The project was intended to digitize federal procurement processes to enhance transparency and efficiency. European Dynamics had approached the arbitration tribunal, seeking payment over what it described as completed project milestones.
Upon assuming office, the Director General of the Bureau of Public Procurement, Dr Adebowale Adedokun, inherited the dispute alongside ongoing settlement discussions. The Bureau, however, opted to proceed with arbitration, maintaining that government payments must be strictly tied to verifiable and functional delivery. The tribunal upheld the Bureau’s argument that in software projects, delivery is only established when the system meets technical and statutory requirements in a live environment, not merely when documents or phased modules are submitted.
In its findings, the tribunal identified critical deficiencies in the system following User Acceptance Testing, including performance errors and omissions for which the contractor bore responsibility at no additional cost. It also ruled that attempts by the contractor to merge multi phase modules in order to trigger payment distorted the contractual framework. The tribunal further affirmed that as the technical expert, the contractor carried the burden of ensuring compliance, irrespective of earlier approvals granted by the Bureau.
Presenting the award to the Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN, Dr Adedokun described the outcome as unprecedented, noting that the contractor had previously prevailed in similar disputes against other African countries.
The Attorney General hailed the decision as a sign of institutional strengthening and commended the role of Nigerian legal professionals, including Johnson and Wilner LLP, in securing the victory. Beyond safeguarding public funds, the ruling is expected to set a precedent in public sector technology contracting, reinforcing the principle that payment in software projects must be based on proven functionality rather than documented effort alone.