*Commences legal, diplomatic moves to recover seized presidential aircraft
*Ogun takes steps to vacate order, faults legal process by foreign firm
*Obi demands explanation, says situation embarrassing
The federal government, yesterday, reacted to the alleged seizure of three presidential planes in Paris, France, following a dispute between a private Chinese firm and the Ogun State government, saying those aircraft are sovereign assets and, therefore, immune from confiscation.
Citing extant principles of international law, the government acknowledged that the actions of a sub-national or local entity were attributable to the state or country itself.
However, the Nigerian government said it had commenced both legal and diplomatic moves to recover the three aircraft in the presidential fleet.
At the same time, Ogun State Government faulted the judicial process that led to the provisional attachment of the aircrafts, and said it had begun steps to vacate the order.
Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 poll, Peter Obi, described the reported seizure of three presidential jets as international embarrassment and demanded full explanation.
The Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, was seeking to enforce a Final Award granted in its favour on March 26, 2021 against one of Nigeria’s sub-nationals, Ogun State.
The matter started in 2007 following a contract between the Ogun State government and Zhongshan Fucheng to manage a free-trade zone. The parties later entered into a dispute in 2015, while arbitration began the following year. After the conclusion of arbitration hearing in 2019, the arbitral panel awarded over $60 million against the Federal Government of Nigeria, a co-defendant, even when all Zhongshan had done was build a perimeter fence around the free-trade zone.
Based on legal advice, the Ogun State government resolved to resist the enforcement of the award. The resistance was successful in eight different jurisdictions, while there were pending appeals against recognition orders issued in both the US and UK.
In addition, the Ogun State government engaged Zhongshan in settlement discussions on reasonable terms, with the last meeting, which took place in London in September 2023, having in attendance the governor, Dapo Abiodun, Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, and several officials of the state government.
Initially, Zhongshan indicated readiness to consider Ogun State’s offer, but shifted ground by 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, the Chinese company had been, allegedly, evasive, but embarked on a series of enforcement proceedings, which the legal team appointed by the federal and Ogun State governments successfully opposed.
Thus, since the news of the seizure of the presidential aircraft, various agencies and the Ogun State government had been shedding light on the issue.
Special Adviser to the President on Communication and Publicity, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Kamarudeen Ogundele, said the steps to stay the enforcement order were being spearheaded by the AGF and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
Ogundele said, in a statement, that the federal government became aware of the interim attachment of three presidential aircraft undergoing routine maintenance in France on August 14.
He explained that the said temporary attachment was made pursuant to ex parte orders issued by the Judicial Court of Paris dated March 7, 2024 and August 12, 2024 at the instance of Zhongshan.
The statement said, “It is to be noted that the arbitral award arose from an arbitration proceeding, which 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 of 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.
