The Ogun State Government, on the Thursday preceding this statement, expressed its objections to the judicial proceedings that resulted in the provisional seizure of three aircraft owned by the Nigerian government in France by the Judicial Court of Paris on the 7th of March and the 2nd of August, 2024.
It is pertinent to recall that a Chinese enterprise, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd, had petitioned the court for various orders regarding an aborted foundational contract with the Ogun State Government, which was initiated in the year 2007.
In a declaration endorsed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Hon. Kayode Akinmade, the Ogun State government characterized this recent occurrence as a continuation of the Chinese company’s attempts to expropriate Nigerian assets in foreign jurisdictions, noting that previous endeavors in this regard had consistently failed.
The statement characterized the entire legal procedure as a mere charade imbued with fraudulent intentions, asserting that the company intentionally withheld information regarding the litigation from both the Nigerian government and the Ogun State authorities, as well as their legal representatives, prior to hastily obtaining orders for the seizure of assets.
Furthermore, it contended that the company must have misled the Judicial Court of Paris regarding the usage and nature of the assets it sought to attach, failing to provide complete disclosure to the court as mandated by law.
According to the statement, Ogun State, in collaboration with the Federal Government, has already undertaken prompt measures to ensure the swift lifting of the provisional attachments, while simultaneously accusing the company of deviating from prior discussions aimed at achieving an amicable resolution of the dispute.
It compared this case to that of P&ID, labeling it as a regrettable instance of unscrupulous individuals posing as foreign investors with the exclusive objective of defrauding Ogun State and Nigeria as a whole.
The statement said: “On 14 August 2024, the attention of the Ogun State Government was drawn to the provisional attachment of three Nigerian government owned aircraft in France by the Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd. (Zhongshan).
Ogun State also learned of two orders of the Judicial Court of Paris dated 7 March 2024 and 12 August 2024 respectively, both obtained by Zhongshan without notice being duly given to the Federal Government or Nigeria, Ogun State or their legal counsel.
“This is the latest in a series of ill-advised attempts by Zhongshan to attach Nigerian-owned assets in foreign jurisdictions, none of which have to date led to the recovery of any sums from Nigeria.
“Each of the three aircraft is used solely for sovereign purposes and as such are immune from attachment under international and French laws.
In obtaining the provisional attachments, Zhongshan deliberately withheld information from the Federal Government of Nigeria, Ogun State and their legal counsel.
“Just like the P&ID case, this is another unfortunate case of unscrupulous individuals masquerading as foreign investors with the sole aim of defrauding Ogun State and Nigeria.
“It should be recalled that the underlying contract between Ogun State and Zhongshan was executed in 2007, 12 years before the present administration, 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 hearing at the arbitration had been all but concluded. The Arbitral Panel awarded over 60 million USD against the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) which was a co-Defendant, when all Zhongshan had done was to build a perimeter fence around the free-trade zone. Needless to say this was a bad/unfair decision.
“The present State Administration could not in all good conscience allow such an unconscionable and baseless decision, which would dissipate the commonwealth of the good people of Ogun State, to stand.
“Accordingly, and based on erudite legal advice, this Administration resolved to resist the enforcement of the award. The resistance was successful in 8 different jurisdictions. Currently, there are pending appeals against recognition orders issued in both the US and UK,” the statement read.
