Seized aircraft: FG working to resolve dispute with Chinese firm, says Tuggar

Yusuf Tuggar, the minister of foreign affairs, says the federal government is working to resolve its dispute with Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment, a Chinese firm.

A French court recently ordered the seizure of three presidential jets belonging to Nigeria over a contract dispute between the Chinese firm and Ogun state government.

The court ruled that the firm should use Nigeria’s jets at the Paris-Le Bourget and Basel-Mulhouse international airports as “security for its claim of EUR 74,459,221”.

A US appeal court also ruled that Nigeria’s claim to sovereign immunity cannot stand in a commercial venture.

The court rejected Nigeria’s sovereign immunity defence to the enforcement of a $70 million investment treaty award won by Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd. in a free trade zone.

The Chinese company said it would release one of Nigeria’s seized presidential jets.

Speaking with reporters in Malabo, the capital city of Equatorial Guinea, on Friday, Tuggar said he and Lateef Fagbemi, the attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice, are on top of the situation.

“This is part of the problem when sub-national actors like state governments take it upon themselves to go into agreements, go into international arrangements, without recourse to the ministry of foreign affairs, without recourse to the federal government, and then when it goes awry, we are left with the problem to deal with,” he said.

“That is why it is always important that such arrangements should be registered with the mission there, with the embassy, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and with the federal government.

“This is something that Ogun state, under a different administration, not this governor, entered into that we’re not aware of. All we know is that they’re going after Nigerian assets.

“That’s why, really, foreign or international negotiations are not the purview of sub-national actors.

“You should always have those that are experienced in such an area that have the necessary skills and the necessary training to negotiate these sorts of agreements.”

The minister said updates would be provided on the matter.