Seized Jets: Presidency accuses Chinese firm of fraud over seized assets
Nigeria’s Presidency has issued a strong statement regarding the recent seizure of three Nigerian aircraft by Chinese company Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, amid a contentious legal dispute, accusing the company of fraudulent activities and misleading the Judicial Court of Paris in its attempt to claim Nigerian assets.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, refuted any contractual obligation between the Federal Government and Zhongshan, emphasising that the jets, being sovereign assets, are protected by diplomatic immunity and cannot be legally seized by foreign courts.
Onanuga highlighted that the ongoing legal issues pertain exclusively to Zhongshan and Ogun State Government, and not the Federal Government.
“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.”
According to Onanuga, the Presidency is aware of Zhongshan’s attempt to take over offshore assets of the Federal Government of Nigeria “through subterfuge”.
”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 the Ogun State Government.
The Federal Government is fully aware of efforts being made by the Ogun State Government to reach an amicable resolution on the matter. 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.”
He further stated that Zhongshan’s claim for restitution lacks merit based on the facts of the 2007 contract and subsequent revocation in 2015.
Onanuga accused Zhongshan of obtaining two court orders from the Judicial Court of Paris, dated March 7, 2024, and August 12, 2024, without notifying the Federal Government or Ogun State.
He described these actions as part of a series of failed attempts by Zhongshan to attach Nigerian government-owned assets abroad, likening the situation to the infamous P&ID case where unscrupulous entities have tried to defraud African governments.
“While the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is 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 in 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.”
The statement provided background on the dispute, noting that the contract between Ogun State and Zhongshan, executed in 2007, had been contested since 2015.
