Victor Ezeja
Chinese firm, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, says it has released one the three presidential jets seized in France. The company made this known on Friday.
Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited had been embroiled in a long-standing dispute with Ogun State government over contract for management of an export processing zone.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelAccording to Premium Times, the Zhongshan said it released the aircraft, Airbus A330, following a request from the Nigerian authorities that it is needed to enable President Bola Tinubu travel to France for a scheduled meeting with President Emmanuel Macron next week.
READ ALSO: Legal Dispute Or Hostile Conspiracy? Nigeria Questions Chinese Firm’s Seizure Of Presidential Jets
The company said lifting the seizure of the aircraft is a gesture of goodwill to the country to enable the president make use of it for the foreign trip.
The Chinese firm expressed willingness to engage in talks with representatives of the Nigerian government “with a view to reaching a reasonable compromise settlement rapidly.”
READ ALSO: Ogun Vs Chinese Firm Contract Dispute: Why Nigerian Govt Is Vicariously Liable
A French Court authorised the seizure of three presidential jets belonging to the Federal Government of Nigeria. The order is that the assets be detained until the company receives the $74.5 million awarded as compensation for the abrupt termination of the contract it had with Ogun State in 2015.
The Federal Government on Thursday, 15th August accused the Chinese firm of making attempts to take over its offshore assets through “subterfuge.”
Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement said the Federal Government is not under any contractual obligation with the company, which is trying to use “unorthodox means to seize the country’s offshore assets because of the case between it and the Ogun State government.
While stating that the Ogun State Government has been making efforts to reach an amicable resolution on the matter, Onanuga, however insisted that the Chinese company has “no solid ground to demand restitution.”
He maintained that Zhongshan withheld vital information and misled the Judicial Court in Paris into detaining the Nigerian government’s presidential jets, which are on routine maintenance in France.
He further argued that “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.”
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
