A federal court in Abuja, is scheduled to convene today, in a case brought by Pfizer, charging that a report on which the Nigerian government has based many of its claims in litigation against the company is illegal, inaccurate, and should be quashed, according to ThisDay, an online Nigerian news site.

The lawsuit states that in 2001, the Nigerian Ministry of Health constituted an investigative committee to look into Pfizer’s 1996 Trovan clinical study, which Nigerian officials contend was unauthorized. The clinical trials involved about 200 children at a government hospital during a triple epidemic of measles, cholera and meningitis in which 12,000 people died which allegedly led to the deaths. Nigerian central and state government officials are suing Pfizer for $9 billion and have issued summonses for Pfizer officials, including director and former ceo Bill Steere, to face criminal charges.

The report being challenged by Pfizer was never made public until The Washington Post last year reported excerpts. The lawsuit points out that to date, “the tederal Government of Nigeria has not accepted the report, considered the report in the Federal Executive Council, or issued a white paper on the basis of the said report.” The lawsuit also states that the committee “acted in excess of its powers,” as its job was mere fact-finding and it lacked authority to impose any punishment.

The story goes on to cite Pfizer’s claims that the drugmaker “has at least 12 letters between the company and the U.S. FDA, as well as Nigeria’s NAFDAC among other Ministry of Health and Ministry of Finance, discussing and approving the study. Pfizer also states that the results of the study plainly proved that Trovan helped save lives.” You can read the rest of the story here.