The Ogun State Government has expressed outrage over the seizure of three Nigerian presidential aircraft by a French court due to a contract dispute between the state government and a Chinese company, Zhongshan.
The company had agreed with the state government in 2007 to manage a free-trade zone, but the contract was revoked in 2016 after a dispute arose.
The French court grounded the jets, citing a $74.5 million award granted to Zhongshan by an independent arbitral tribunal.
However, the Ogun State government disputes this award and has yet to honor it.
In a statement, the state government described the seizure as “unfair” and accused Zhongshan of attempting to seize Nigerian assets in foreign jurisdictions.
The government claimed that the company misled the Paris court about the nature and use of the seized assets and failed to make full disclosure.
The state government has vowed to contest the order and lift the provisional attachments without delay, likening the situation to the P&ID case, where unscrupulous individuals posed as foreign investors to defraud the state and Nigeria.
