The Presidency on Thursday said the French court was misled to give the order authorizing the seizure of three Presidential jets belonging to Nigeria.
The Chinese company had sought several orders from the court over an aborted contract between the company and Ogun State Government, which was initiated in 2007.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described the French court’s order attaching Nigeria’s presidential jets as a result of the arm-twisting tactic by a Chinese company.
Onanuga, who highlighted various efforts the federal government and the Ogun State government had made to resolve the matter, said Zhongshan “withheld vital information and misled” the French court in Paris into attaching the Nigerian government’s Presidential jets.
According to him, the jets are on routine maintenance in France when the court order was issued.
“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,” the statement 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.
Meanwhile, the Ogun State Government, whose contract dispute with Zhongshan led to the seizures, described the judicial action as unfair and threatened to contest the order.
The contract however hit a deadlock and was revoked by the State government in 2016.
Following this disagreement, the Chinese firm took both the State and the Federal Governments to court, prompting the French court to seize the three presidential aircraft within its jurisdiction.
Earlier, an independent arbitral tribunal had awarded Zhongshan approximately $74.5 million in compensation. However, the Ogun State government, which disputes this award, has yet to honour it.
In a statement on Thursday, signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, the State government condemned the development as a new tactic by the Chinese company to seize Nigerian assets in foreign jurisdictions, noting that past efforts had continually failed.
The statement reads in part: “Each of the three aircraft is used solely for sovereign purposes and, as such, is immune from attachment under international and French law. In securing the provisional attachments, Zhongshan deliberately withheld information from the Federal Government of Nigeria, Ogun State, and their legal counsel.”
Akinmade further alleged that Zhongshan misled the Paris court regarding the nature and use of the seized assets.
“Shockingly, it also appears to have misled the Judicial Court of Paris about the use and nature of the assets it seeks to attach and failed to make full disclosure to the court as required by law.
“Ogun State, in conjunction with the Federal Government of Nigeria, has taken swift action to ensure that these provisional attachments are lifted without delay.”
The government likened the situation to the P&ID case, insisting that “this is another unfortunate instance of unscrupulous individuals posing as foreign investors with the sole aim of defrauding Ogun State and Nigeria.”
Akinmade recalled that the contract between the state and Zhongshan was executed in 2007, 12 years before the Dapo Abiodun-led government, for the management of a free-trade zone. The parties entered into a dispute in 2015, with arbitration commencing in 2016.
“By 2019, when the current State Administration took office, the arbitration hearing had been nearly concluded. The Arbitral Panel awarded over $60 million against the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), which was a co-defendant, despite Zhongshan merely constructing a perimeter fence around the free-trade zone. Needless to say, this was a flawed and unfair decision.”