JUST IN: Chinese company releases one of the seized presidential jets

Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited has announced the release of one of three presidential jets seized under the orders of a French court.

Daily Trust reported that the company had seized a Dassault Falcon 7X, a Boeing 737-7N6/BBJ and an Airbus A330-243 belonging to the Federal Government of Nigeria. These aircraft were based at Paris-Le Bourget and Basel-Mulhouse airports.

This follows the Ogun State Government revoking a contract in 2016.

The ruling is the latest arbitration case against Nigeria by a foreign company, which claims Africa’s most populous country has failed to honour an agreement.

In 2013, Zhongfu, a subsidiary of Chinese investment company Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment, and the Ogun State Government signed a contract to develop a free trade zone.

Under the terms of the agreement, Zhongfu would own 60 percent of the joint venture.

However, three years later, Zhongfu claimed that Ogun had pulled out of the deal and wanted to take over the “significant” Chinese investment in the free trade zone.

The company said a “campaign of illegal acts” against it ultimately led to it withdrawing from the agreement.

Zhongshan initiated arbitration proceedings against Nigeria in 2018.

A three-person arbitration panel in London awarded the company $70 million in damages, to be paid by the federal government in 2021. The damages have since risen to about $81 million including interest.

But a company spokesman said one of the fighter jets was released after it emerged that President Bola Tinubu would need the aircraft for a planned meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

In a statement, he said: “Zhongshan has always endeavored to act reasonably and fairly in the context of a legal dispute with Nigeria that was not of its own making.

“It has now been revealed that an Airbus A330, currently being held 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 immediately lifted the seizure of that plane, allowing it to be used for the president’s trip.”

The spokesperson said the company remains committed to discussions with the Nigerian government with a view to reaching a “reasonable compromise” quickly.