Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited has announced that one of the three Presidential jets seized has been released based on the order of a French court.
Recall that the firm recently seized a Dassault Falcon 7X, a Boeing 737-7N6/BBJ and an Airbus A330-243 belonging to the Nigerian government, stationed at Paris-Le Bourget and Basel-Mulhouse airports.
This is as a result of the revocation of a contract by the Ogun state government in 2016.
The judgment is the latest arbitration effort against Nigeria by a foreign company alleging that the country reneged on an agreement.
In 2013, Zhongfu, a subsidiary of Chinese investment company Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment, and the Ogun state government signed a contract to construct a free trade area.
Under the terms of the deal, Zhongfu was to own 60 per cent of the joint venture.
Meanwhile, three years later, Zhongfu alleged that Ogun had backed out of the agreement and wanted to own the “significant” Chinese investment in the free trade zone.
According to the company, a “campaign of illegal acts” against it forced it out of the agreement.
In 2018, Zhongshan initiated arbitration proceedings against Nigeria.
The company was awarded $70million in damages to be paid by the federal government in 2021 by a three-man arbitration panel in London. The award has since increased to about $81mn with interest.
While talking about the release, the company’s spokesperson said one of the jets was released after they were told that President Bola Tinubu would need it for a scheduled meeting with Frances president, Emmanuel Macron.
In a statement, the spokesperson said: “Zhongshan has consistently sought to act reasonably and fairly in the course of a legal dispute with Nigeria which was not of its making.
“It has now been made aware that an Airbus A330, currently detained in France as a result of a French court order obtained by Zhongshan, is needed for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to travel to a scheduled meeting with President Macron of France early next week.
“As a gesture of goodwill, Zhongshan has lifted the seizure of that aircraft immediately. This will allow it to be used for the President’s trip.”
The spokesperson revealed further that the company remains committed to talks with the Nigerian government to reach a “reasonable compromise rapidly”.
