The Nigerian government just put a Chinese company on blast, accusing them of trying to seize its assets overseas—including some presidential jets. This happened on Thursday when Bayo Onanuga, a presidential spokesperson, called out Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd. for using “unorthodox means” to come after Nigeria’s property. The spokesman went further to state that the federal government doesn’t even have a contract with them.
Now, Zhongshan Fucheng hasn’t said a word about these claims yet, but the here’s the backstory: The dispute traces back to a 2007 contract between Zhongshan and Nigeria’s southwestern Ogun State for the development of a free trade zone. The contract was terminated in 2015 after the company allegedly failed to make significant progress, with Onanuga noting that Zhongshan had only managed to erect a perimeter fence on the designated land before the revocation.
“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,” Onanuga said in his statement.
Nigeria’s national government says they were never involved in that contract. But Zhongshan went ahead and took this issue to courts in the UK, the U.S., and France, where they managed to score more than $60 million in an arbitration award.
Onanuga also mentioned that back in March and August, a French court let Zhongshan seize Nigerian assets, including some presidential jets that were in France for maintenance. Onanuga made it clear that these assets are off-limits, protected by immunity.
Right now, the Nigerian government is teaming up with Ogun State to sort this out and make sure their assets stay right where they belong.
