In order to secure the planes’ release, the federal government and the state of Ogun are working feverishly to revoke the orders that the Chinese business acquired on March 7, 2024, and August 12, 2024, respectively.
Yesterday, the President took action against Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Company, a Chinese company, for seizing three presidential jets per the Paris, France, Judicial Court’s order.
In an effort to deprive Nigeria of her assets, it also rejected court judgments against the Ogun State Government, which resulted in the seizure of the three presidential jets.
In order to secure the planes’ release, the federal government and the state of Ogun are working feverishly to revoke the orders that the Chinese business acquired on March 7, 2024, and August 12, 2024, respectively.
This is reminiscent of the order obtained by Process and Industrial Development Limited, P&ID, in London to secure $11 billion judgment debt from Nigeria, which the Federal Government eventually got vacated.
A contract between Ogun State and Zhongshan to manage a free-trade zone was executed in 2007 but the parties entered into a dispute in 2015, and arbitration began in 2016.
By 2019, it was learned that the arbitration hearing had been concluded, as the Arbitral Panel awarded over $60 million against the Federal Government of Nigeria, a co-defendant, when all Zhongshan had done was build a perimeter fence around the free-trade zone.
Based on legal advice, Ogun State Government was said to have resolved to resist enforcement of the award. It was also gathered that the resistance was successful in eight different jurisdictions, as there are pending appeals against recognition orders issued in both the US and UK.
Ogun State, it was learned, also engaged Zhongshan in settlement discussions on reasonable terms. The last meeting, which 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 government paying the full arbitration debt.
It was learned that this led to a breakdown of the mediation, with parties agreeing to meet again in the first quarter of this year.
Since then, Zhongshan, Vanguard learned, had been evasive and instead, 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, it was learned.
Ogun State has not given up on a reasonable settlement option, with the most recent being a letter sent to Zhongshan last week.
Zhongshan, it was gathered, only responded after obtaining this latest illegal order.
Claiming that the Federal Government was never served any notice of the two cases in the Judicial Court of Paris which gave orders on March 7, 2024, and August 12, 2024, respectively, the Presidency said it is working with Ogun State Government to discharge what it descried as a frivolous order.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who disclosed this in a statement yesterday, said: ‘’The Presidency is aware of the various failed attempts by a Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, to take over offshore assets of the Federal Government of Nigeria through subterfuge.
‘’Ogun State Government, on Thursday (yesterday), faulted the judicial process that led to the provisional attachment of three Nigerian government-owned aircraft in France by the Judicial Court of Paris on March 7 and August 2, 2024.
‘’The Federal Government is not under any contractual obligation with the company. The case in which Zhongshan is trying to use every unorthodox means to strip our offshore assets is between the company and Ogun State Government.
“The Federal Government is aware of efforts being made by the Ogun State Government to reach an amicable resolution to the matter.
‘’It must be said without any equivocation that Zhongshan has no solid ground to demand restitution from Ogun State Government, based on 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.
“Material facts in the transaction between 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 cheating 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 to the court as required by law.
“This same Chinese company had tried to enforce its questionable judgment 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 judgment they got to a venture capitalist seeking to make money by embarrassing the Federal Government and President Bola Tinubu.