By Divine Ihechimerem
The Nigerian government has condemned a Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, for attempting to seize offshore assets of the Federal Government of Nigeria. The Presidency has accused the company of using underhanded tactics in an ongoing dispute between Zhongshan and the Ogun State Government.
In a statement released today, Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, clarified that the Federal Government has no contractual obligations with Zhongshan. The dispute, rooted in a 2007 contract between the Ogun State Government and the Chinese firm for the management of a free trade zone, escalated when the contract was revoked in 2015. At that time, the company had only completed a perimeter fence on the site.
Despite efforts by Ogun State to amicably resolve the matter, Zhongshan recently obtained two ex-parte orders from the Judicial Court of Paris, dated March 7 and August 12, 2024, without proper notice being served to either the Federal Government or the Ogun State Government. These orders reportedly targeted Nigerian government assets, including presidential jets currently undergoing routine maintenance in France.
The Nigerian government has expressed concern over Zhongshan’s tactics, likening the case to the infamous Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) saga. Onanuga stated that Zhongshan misled the Paris court regarding the nature and use of the presidential jets, which are protected under diplomatic immunity, thus rendering any foreign court order against them invalid.
This is not the first time Zhongshan has sought to enforce its claims. Previous attempts in the United Kingdom and the United States have failed. The Nigerian government views these efforts as part of a broader strategy by unscrupulous foreign companies to defraud African nations.
The statement also noted that the Ogun State Government has been proactive in resisting the enforcement of a 60 million USD arbitration award against the Federal Government, which was issued despite Zhongshan’s minimal contribution to the free trade zone project. Settlement discussions, including a September 2023 meeting in London attended by Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun and Nigeria’s Attorney General, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, were unsuccessful due to Zhongshan’s insistence on full payment of the arbitration award.
The Federal Government reassured Nigerians that it is collaborating with the Ogun State Government to nullify the Paris court’s orders and protect Nigeria’s national assets from what it described as “predators and shylocks masquerading as investors.”