The Federal Government of Nigeria has confirmed that three presidential aircraft undergoing routine maintenance in France were temporarily attached on August 14, 2024, due to exparte orders issued by the Judicial Court of Paris.
The orders, dated March 7, 2024, and August 12, 2024, were obtained by Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, a Chinese company seeking to enforce a Final Award granted in its favor on March 26, 2021, against Ogun State.
According to Kamarudeen Ogundele, Special Adviser to the President on Communication and Publicity, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Federal Government of Nigeria has confirmed that three presidential aircraft undergoing routine maintenance in France were temporarily attached on August 14, 2024.
Ogundele stated that the temporary attachment was made pursuant to exparte orders issued by the Judicial Court of Paris, dated March 7, 2024, and August 12, 2024, at the instance of Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, a Chinese company seeking to enforce a Final Award granted in its favor on March 26, 2021, against Ogun State.
He clarified that the arbitral award arose from a contractual dispute between the Chinese company and Ogun State Government over the operation and management of Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone. Although the dispute originated from engagements of Ogun State Government, the enforcement actions are being directed against the Federal Government and its assets.
Ogundele assured that the Offices of the National Security Adviser and the Attorney-General of the Federation have initiated legal and diplomatic steps to discharge the orders, emphasizing that the aircraft are covered by sovereign immunity.
The Federal Government maintains that the aircraft are sovereign assets used solely for sovereign purposes and are therefore immune from attachment. Further actions are being taken to resolve the dispute through available legal means.
The statement read in part: “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.”
