The Nigerian government alleges a Chinese firm’s fraudulent attempt to strip the country’s assets following the controversial jet seizure.
The Nigerian Federal Government has accused Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, a Chinese company, of deceitful tactics following the ruling in favor of the firm by a French court allowing for the confiscation of presidential planes belonging to Nigeria’s government.
On Thursday, the spokesperson for the president, Bayo Onanuga accused a Chinese company of attempting to acquire offshore assets belonging to Nigeria’s Federal Government through surreptitious means.
The Paris court has granted the Chinese company permission to take possession of three presidential planes undergoing regular maintenance in France as a “security” measure for claims made against Ogun State government, following an arbitration award dispute. The ruling was favourable towards the foreign firm involved.
In 2007, the Ogun State government contracted a foreign firm to oversee operations of its free-trade zone. Nevertheless, in 2015, this agreement was terminated by the state’s authorities.
Zhongshan was not satisfied and therefore initiated an arbitration concerning investment treaty against Nigeria, in accordance with the China-Nigeria Bilateral Investment Treaty.
Millions of dollars were awarded to Zhongshan as compensation by the arbitrators who determined that Nigeria had violated its duties under the China-Nigeria BIT.
The Nigerian government and its subdivisions took the issue to “eight” different legal systems, such as those of the United Kingdom and the United States.
Routine maintenance is currently being performed on three Nigerian presidential jets in France, the newest jurisdiction.
The court in Paris reportedly ruled that the confiscation of the airplanes was necessary to safeguard any potential claims stemming from an arbitration award issued on March 26, 2021 by a specially constituted arbitral tribunal.
READ ALSO: FG Accuses Chinese Firm of Fraudulent Bid to Seize Jets
The Nigerian government stated that they do not have any contractual obligation with the company.
“According to Onanuga, the dispute involving Zhongshan’s unconventional attempts to take away our offshore assets is solely between the company and the Ogun State Government. He criticized Zhongshan for lacking a strong justification to seek compensation from the state government in relation to their contract with them back in 2007 that involved managing a free-trade zone.”
According to him, in 2015 when the contract with Ogun State was cancelled, the company had solely constructed a boundary wall on the designated area for a free trade zone.
Despite the efforts of Lateef Fagbemi, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, to reach an amicable resolution with the Ogun State Government regarding this matter, Onanuga revealed that Zhongshan managed to obtain two orders from the Judicial Court in Paris on March 7th and August 12th in 2024 without properly serving notice to both Nigerian Federal Authorities and Ogun State Government.
The Chinese company’s employment of arm-twisting tactics is just the newest addition to a catalogue of unsuccessful attempts aimed at connecting Nigerian government-owned assets in overseas territories.
Another P&ID case appears to be evident in the material facts of the transaction between Zhongshan and Ogun State Government, where nefarious individuals present themselves falsely as investors with an objective to undercut and scam African Governments.
According to him, the international corporation held back crucial details and deceived the Judicial Court in Paris into seizing Nigeria’s presidential planes that are undergoing regular maintenance in France.
Because the Presidential jets are considered assets of a Sovereign entity, their use and behevior is protected by diplomatic immunity. As such, no foreign court has the authority to issue an order against them.
The Federal Government is collaborating with the Ogun State Government to promptly dismiss this baseless directive in Paris and we reassure Nigerians of our efforts.
He pointed out that the Nigerian Government is committed to safeguarding our national assets against predators and swindlers who pose as investors.
The court directive was issued amidst controversy over President Bola Tinubu’s proposed acquisition of a new presidential aircraft. In recent times, due to malfunctioning jets designated for official trips, the president has had to resort to utilizing rented aircrafts instead.
There has been growing concern about the health of the Presidential Air Fleet recently.
Vice President Kashim Shettima was unable to attend the 2024 US-Africa Business Summit hosted by the Corporate Council on Africa in May due to a flawed presidential jet.
In December of last year, the Nigerian Air Force put up for sale a presidential aircraft known as Falcon 900B and invited potential buyers to submit their bids.
