A Chinese investment company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment has secures a French Court order to seize three Nigerian presidential jets following a case filed before the court against the Ogun State government.
The company had approached the court over an export processing zone management underlying contract with the Ogun State government, which was revoked by the Ogun State government in 2016.
The Financial Times reported that, arising from the filing by the company, the court ordered the seizure of a Dassault Falcon 7X, a Boeing 737-7N6/BBJ, and an Airbus A330-243 owned by the federal government of Nigeria but parked at Paris-Le Bourget and Basel-Mulhouse airports.
Zhongfu, a subsidiary of Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment, and the Ogun State government had, in 2013, signed the contract to develop a free trade area on the basis of the Chinese company owning 60 per cent of the joint venture.
The deal collapsed three years later, with Zhongfu alleging that Ogun State demanded a more significant share of Chinese investment in the free trade zone.
It was also alleged that the government embarked on a “campaign of illegal acts” against Zhongfu, forcing it to abandon the agreement.
Consequently, Zhongashan initiated arbitration proceedings against Nigeria in 2018, leading to the 2021 ruling of a three-man arbitration panel in London initially awarding the company $70 million in damages to be paid by the federal government.
According to the Financial Times, Zhongshan filed the enforcement order of a recent ruling with the Paris Judicial Court since the aircraft were stationed in France.
Following the order for the seizure of the presidential jets, the Presidency clarified on Thursday that the federal government has no contractual obligation to the Chinese firm that sought for their confiscation.
A statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, affirmed that the presidency is aware of the various failed attempts by the company to take over offshore assets of the federal government through subterfuge.
The statement said the government “is not under any contractual obligation with the company,” as the case is in which it is “trying to use every unorthodox means to strip our offshore assets is between the company and the Ogun State government.”
The presidential aide said the federal government is also aware of the efforts being made by the Ogun State government to reach an amicable resolution on the matter.
The statement added: “It must be said without any equivocation that Zhongshan has no solid ground to demand restitution from the Ogun State government based on the facts regarding the 2007 contract between the company and the State government to manage a free-trade zone.
“When the contract with Ogun State was revoked in 2015, the company had only erected a perimeter fence on the land earmarked for a free trade zone.
“While the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice are working with the Ogun State government on an amicable resolution, Zhongshan obtained two orders from the Judicial Court of Paris dated March 7, 2024, and August 12, 2024, without any notice being duly served on the Federal Government of Nigeria and Ogun State Government.
“This arm-twisting tactic by the Chinese company is the latest in a long list of failed moves to attach Nigerian government-owned assets to foreign jurisdictions.
“The material facts in the transaction between the Ogun State Government and Zhongshan point to another P&ID case in which unscrupulous and questionable individuals falsely present themselves as investors with the sole objective of undercutting and scamming governments in Africa.
“Undoubtedly, Zhongshan withheld vital information and misled the Judicial Court in Paris into attaching the Nigerian government’s presidential jets, which are on routine maintenance in France.
“The use and nature of the presidential jets as assets of a sovereign entity whose assets are protected by diplomatic immunity forbid any foreign court from issuing an order against them.
“We are convinced the Chinese company misled the Judicial Court of Paris regarding the use and nature of the assets it seeks to attach and did not fully disclose them to the court as required by law.
“This same Chinese company tried to enforce its questionable judgement in the UK and USA but failed.
“Like the P&ID case, foreign companies are trying to defraud Nigeria with the collaboration of some bureaucrats. Zhongshan appeared to have sold the judgement they got to a venture capitalist seeking to make money by embarrassing the Federal Government and President Bola Tinubu.
“We want to assure Nigerians that the Federal Government is working with the Ogun State Government to discharge this frivolous order in Paris immediately.
“The Nigerian government will always work to protect our national assets from predators and shylocks who masquerade as investors.”
The presidency provided background to the case, noting: “A contract between Ogun State and Zhongshan to manage a free-trade zone was executed in 2007. The parties entered into a dispute in 2015, and arbitration began in 2016.
“By 2019, the arbitration hearing had been concluded. The Arbitral Panel awarded over 60 million USD against the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), a co-defendant, when all Zhongshan had done was build a perimeter fence around the free-trade zone.
“Based on legal advice, the Ogun State Government resolved to resist the enforcement of the award. The resistance was successful in 8 different jurisdictions. There are pending appeals against recognition orders issued in both the US and the UK.
“Ogun State also engaged Zhongshan in settlement discussions on reasonable terms. The last meeting, held in September 2023 in London, lasted for three days and was attended by several officials of Ogun State, including Governor Dapo Abiodun and the Attorney General/Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi.
“Zhongshan’s initial reasonable readiness to consider Ogun State’s offer was surprisingly reversed by the second day when it insisted on the government paying the full arbitration debt. This led to a breakdown of the mediation, with parties agreeing to meet again in the first quarter of this year.
“Since then, Zhongshan has been evasive. Instead, it embarked on a series of enforcement proceedings, which the legal team appointed by the FGN and Ogun State successfully opposed. In cases similar to the present one, where Zhongshan obtained an ex-parte order, Ogun State successfully set aside the orders.
“Ogun State has not given up on a reasonable settlement option, with the most recent letter sent to Zhongshan last week. Zhongshan only responded after obtaining this latest illegal order.”
The Ogun State government, on its part, has vowed to fight back, describing the attachment of the aircraft to the aborted export processing zone underlying the contract as fraudulent.
Faulting the Chinese company for attaching the aircraft to the case, a statement by Kayode Akinmade, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, said it was the latest in the series of attempts by the company to attach Nigerian-owned assets in foreign jurisdictions to its claims.
The statement observed that such effort had never led to the recovery of any sums from Nigeria.
The Ogun government pointed out that the three aircraft are used solely for sovereign purposes and, as such, are immune from attachment under international and French laws.
