By Emmanuel Nduka
A French court has authorised the seizure of three presidential jets linked to the Federal Government of Nigeria, PREMIUM TIMES reported on Wednesday.
Out of the three seized jets, two are part of the Nigerian presidential air fleet which were recently put up for sale, while the third, an Airbus 330, which had been purchased by the Nigeria government, but not yet delivered.
Heritage Times HT reports that the seizure of the presidential jets is a result of an application by Zhongshan, a Chinese company whose export processing zone management contract was revoked by the Ogun State Government eight years ago.
An independent arbitral tribunal chaired by the former President of the UK Supreme Court awarded Zhongshan about $74.5 million in compensation, but the Ogun State Government, which has a dispute with Zhongshan, has yet to honour the award.
Now, the Nigerian Government is facing this backlash over an action taken by one of its subnationals with which Zhongshan has a business dispute.
The seized presidential jets which are currently undersoing maintenance include a Dassault Falcon 7X at Le Bourget airport in Paris, a Boeing 737, and an Airbus 330 at Basel-Mulhouse airport in Switzerland.
The order of the French Court prohibits the movement, sale, or purchase of the jets until Zhongshan receives the awarded $74.5 million. Bailiffs have served papers for each aircraft.
The Nigerian Government led by President Bola Tinubu is yet to comment on this development as at the time of writing this story.
The Ogun State Government and Zhongshan have been locked in a long-drawn battle over the management of an export processing zone in the South-west state.
It would be recalled that on June 29, 2010, Zhuhai Zhongfu Industrial Group Co Ltd, the parent company of Zhongshan, and the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone (OGFTZ) entered into a framework agreement on the establishment of Fucheng Industrial Park within the zone.
The agreement gave Zhuhan the right to develop and run Fucheng Park within the zone.
The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority registered Zhongfu International Investment (NIG) FZE, a subsidiary of Zhongshan, as a free trade zone enterprise within the OGFZ in 2011. The Ogun State government later appointed Zhongfu as the interim manager/administrator of the zone.
But in July 2016, Zhongfu alleged that the Ogun State Government moved to terminate its appointment, and appoint another manager for the free trade zone.
Zhongfu then launched an investment treaty arbitration against Nigeria, citing the bilateral investment treaty between the People’s Republic of China and Nigeria.
On March 26, 2021, an arbitral tribunal issued a final award of $55,675,000 in addition to an interest of $9.4 million and costs of £2,864,445 payable by Nigeria to Zhongshan.
The seizure of the planes follows the recent confiscation of Nigerian-owned buildings in Liverpool, England, by a UK court in relation to the same dispute with Zhongshan. The properties against which Zhongshan secured charging orders are located at 15 Aigburth Hall Road, Liverpool and Beech Lodge, 49 Calderstones Road, Liverpool, estimated by the company to be worth between £1.3 and £1.7 million.
