Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited has dismissed the Nigerian government’s account in a Paris, France court proceeding that followed the country’s presidential airplanes being temporarily seized.
The rebuttal was disclosed in a statement on August 15, 2024, according to Premium Times.
The National Security Adviser and Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), said that they had started the legal process to retrieve three presidential airplanes that had been temporarily seized by a Paris court order in France.
According to a statement from the Nigerian presidency, a contract between Ogun State and Zhongshan to manage a free-trade zone was executed in 2007.
The parties started a dispute in 2015, and in 2016 arbitration got underway.
The arbitration hearing was over by the year 2019.
The Arbitral Panel awarded over 60 million USD against the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), a co-defendant, despite Zhongshan only building a perimeter fence around the free-trade zone.
The government raised alarm about an attempt by the Chinese company Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd to forcibly take possession of Nigeria’s presidential jets and other offshore assets.
The AGF also confirmed that the temporary attachment was made pursuant to ex parte orders issued by the Judicial Court of Paris on March 7, 2024, and August 12, 2024, respectively, at the instance of Messrs. Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, a Chinese company seeking to enforce a Final Award granted in its favor on March 26, 2021, against one of Nigeria’s sub-nationals, Ogun State.
The AGF statement reads, “The Offices of the National Security Adviser and the Attorney General of the Federation have already set in motion both legal and diplomatic steps to ensure the discharge of the inappropriate orders against the aircraft, which are covered by sovereign immunity. While further actions are being put in place to resolve the entire dispute through available legal means, the firm position of the Federal Government remains that the aircraft in question are sovereign assets used solely for sovereign purposes and are therefore immune from attachment as Zhongshan has sought to do.”
In response to the development, the company declared that Zhongshan is confident in its position and has just attempted to protect its rights under international law.
It emphasized that the Independent arbitral tribunal rendered decisions in its favour, and courts across several nations have maintained the position that the panel’s award ought to be implemented.
“The French court was fully aware of the facts when it reached its decision. Far from being just a fence, the Ogun Free Trade Zone was featured as a significant international investment by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
“Zhongshan has for a long time been ready to enter serious negotiations with the Federal Government of Nigeria to settle this case and still awaits an indication that the government is equally willing,” the statement said, as quoted by Premium Times.
The response from the Chinese company and the AGF suggests that
another round of legal tussles looms if an out-of-court settlement or an amicable resolution cannot be reached.
The Ogun State Government decided to oppose the award’s enforcement, based on legal advice. This resistance was successful in eight different jurisdictions.
Zhongshan was also invited to participate in reasonable terms settlement talks with Ogun State. The last meeting, held in September 2023 in London, lasted 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.
