After a French court ruled in favour of Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited and authorised the seizure of the Nigerian government’s presidential planes, the Federal Government of Nigeria accused the Chinese corporation of deceit.
Bayo Onanuga, the President’s Special Advisor on Information and Strategy, said on Wednesday that the company is bringing a fraudulent claim against the Nigerian government, akin to the PI&D case in the UK.
Onanuga claims that Zhongshan Fucheng Ltd. and the Ogun State government were the targets of the lawsuit, which concerned a 2007 agreement between the business and the government to oversee a free-trade zone.
He claimed that Zhongshan had used “unorthodox” tactics to deprive Nigeria of its assets abroad through deceit, and that the conflict, which had previously been settled by Nigeria’s legal system, was now being wrongfully litigated in Paris.
Onanuga claims that Zhongshan received two orders from the Judicial Court of Paris, dated August 12, 2024, and March 7, 2024, without properly notifying the Ogun State Government or the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The content of the statement stated that: “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.
“The Federal Government is not under any contractual obligation with the company. The case in which Zhongshan is trying to use every unorthodox means to strip our offshore assets is between the company and the Ogun State Government.
“It must be said without any equivocation that Zhongshan has no solid ground to demand restitution from the Ogun State Government based on the facts regarding the 2007 contract between the company and the State Government to manage a free-trade zone.
“While the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is working with the Ogun State Government on an amicable resolution, Zhongshan obtained two orders from the Judicial Court of Paris dated March 7, 2024, and August 12, 2024, without any notice being duly served on the Federal Government of Nigeria and Ogun State Government.
“This arm-twisting tactic by the Chinese company is the latest in a long list of failed moves to attach Nigerian government-owned assets in foreign jurisdictions.
“The material facts in the transaction between the Ogun State Government and Zhongshan point to another P&ID case in which unscrupulous and questionable individuals falsely present themselves as investors with the sole objective of undercutting and scamming Governments in Africa,” he said.
He added “Undoubtedly, Zhongshan withheld vital information and misled the Judicial Court in Paris into attaching the Nigerian government’s presidential jets, which are on routine maintenance in France. 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.
“We are convinced the Chinese company misled the Judicial Court of Paris regarding the use and nature of the assets it seeks to attach and did not fully disclose to the court as required by law.
“This same Chinese company had tried to enforce its questionable judgment in the UK and USA but failed.”
