The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minster of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has said the aircraft ordered to be seized by a Chinese company remains Nigeria’s sovereign assets and as such are immune from any temporary seizure.
NewsNGR reported that a French court had granted a Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd, an order to seize three Nigerian jets following a dispute over a free trade zone contract which the company entered with the Ogun State Government in 2007.
The Ogun state government had revoked the contract in 2015, forcing the aggrieved company to approach an Arbitral panel and was awarded $60m against the Nigerian government which was a co-defendant.
The seized presidential jets include a Dassault Falcon 7X at Le Bourget airport in Paris, a Boeing 737, and an Airbus 330 at Basel-Mulhouse airport in Switzerland.
Two of the jets, part of the Nigerian presidential air fleet, were recently put up for sale, while the third, an Airbus 330, was purchased by Nigeria for over $100 million but not yet delivered.
The court order prohibits the movement, sale, or purchase of the jets which are currently undergoing maintenance, until Zhongshan receives the awarded $74.5 million.
In a statement on Thursday, the AGF said the aircraft are covered by sovereign immunity, adding that the country is taking legal and diplomatic steps to ensure that such an order is vacated.
Fagbemi said, “On 14th August 2024, the Federal Government of Nigeria became aware of the interim attachment of three presidential aircrafts undergoing routine maintenance in France.
“The said temporary attachment was made pursuant to exparte orders issued by the Judicial Court of Paris dated 7 March 2024 and 12 August 2024 respectively at the instance of Messrs.
“Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, a Chinese company seeking to enforce a Final Award granted in its favour on 26 March 2021, against one of Nigeria’s sub-nationals, Ogun State.
“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, however, the consequential enforcement actions are being directed against the Federal Government and its assets in line with extant principles of international law which holds that the actions of a subnational or local entity are attributable to the State or country itself.
“The Offices of the National Security Adviser and the Attorney-General of the Federation, have already set in motion both legal and diplomatic steps to ensure the discharge of the inappropriate orders against the aircrafts, which are covered by sovereign immunity.
“While, further actions are being put in place to resolve the entire dispute through available legal means, the firm position of the Federal Government remains that the aircrafts in question are sovereign assets used solely for sovereign purposes and are therefore immune from attachment as Zhongshan has sought to do,” the AGF said.