The offices of the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), and the National Security Adviser (NSA) have commenced legal steps to recover three presidential aircraft temporarily seized by a Paris court order in France.
This was disclosed in a statement by the AGF's spokesperson, Kamarudeen Ogundele, on August 15, 2024.
The presidency had earlier raised concerns about an attempt by Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, a Chinese firm, to seize Nigeria's presidential jets and other offshore assets through a court case in Paris, France.
What the AGF is saying
According to the statement, the Federal Government of Nigeria became aware of the interim attachment of three presidential aircraft undergoing routine maintenance in France on August 14, 2024.
An attachment is a court order seizing specific property as requested by a party.
The AGF spokesperson 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 statement partly reads:
"It is to be noted that the arbitral award arose from an arbitration proceeding that commenced in 2018 as a fallout of a contractual dispute between the Chinese company and Ogun State Government over the operation and management of Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone.
"We wish to clarify that, though the dispute originated from engagements with the Ogun State Government, the consequential enforcement actions are being directed against the Federal Government and its assets in line with extant principles of international law, which hold that the actions of a subnational or local entity are attributable to the State or country itself."
Ogundele disclosed that the AGF and NSA have now commenced legal and diplomatic moves to reclaim Nigeria's sovereign assets.
The 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."
Details about the Case
A contract between Ogun State and Zhongshan to manage a free-trade zone was executed in 2007. The parties entered into a dispute in 2015, and arbitration began in 2016.
By 2019, the arbitration hearing had been concluded. 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.
Based on legal advice, the Ogun State Government resolved to resist the enforcement of the award. This resistance was successful in eight different jurisdictions. There are pending appeals against recognition orders issued in both the US and UK.
Ogun State also engaged Zhongshan in settlement discussions on reasonable terms. 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.
Zhongshan's initial reasonable readiness to consider Ogun State's offer was surprisingly reversed on the second day when it insisted on the government paying the full arbitration debt. This led to a breakdown of the mediation, with parties agreeing to meet again in the first quarter of this year.
Since then, Zhongshan has been evasive. Instead, it embarked on a series of enforcement proceedings, which the legal team appointed by the FGN and Ogun State successfully opposed. In cases similar to the present one, where Zhongshan obtained an ex parte order, Ogun State successfully set aside the orders.
Ogun State has not given up on a reasonable settlement option, with the most recent letter sent to Zhongshan last week. Zhongshan only responded after obtaining this latest illegal order.
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