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Seized presidential jet: Judgment creditor, Chinese firm ready for talks with FG.

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The Chinese company behind the seizure of three Nigerian government presidential jets, Zhongshan, has said it is open to discussions and committed to settling the face-off between it and the Nigerian government.

Zhongshan, the Chinese company whose export processing zone management contract was revoked by the Ogun State Government in 2016, had sought the intervention of the French court in his contractual dispute with the state government.

Following this move, the court ordered the seizure of the Federal Government’s jets, having been a respondent in the matter.

It will be recalled that on June 29, 2010, Zhuhai Zhongfu Industrial Group Co Ltd, the parent company of Zhongshan, and the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone entered into an agreement on the establishment of Fucheng Industrial Park within the zone.

This agreement gave Zhuhan the right to develop and run Fucheng Park within the zone.

The Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority registered Zhongfu International Investment Nig, a subsidiary of Zhongshan, as a free trade zone enterprise within the OGFZ in 2011.

The state government later appointed Zhongfu as the interim manager/administrator of the zone.

However, in July 2016, Zhongfu alleged that the government had moved to terminate its appointment and appoint another manager for the free trade zone.
This caused the Chinese company to commence an investment treaty arbitration against Nigeria, citing the bilateral investment treaty between the People’s Republic of China and Nigeria.

In the cause of the legal battle, an arbitral tribunal awarded Zhongshan about $74.5m in compensation, but the Ogun State Government, which has an axe to grind with Zhongshan, did not honor the award.

Zhongshan’s statement reads, “Zhongshan has only ever sought to assert its rights under international law and is confident in its case. The independent arbitral panel was found unanimously in its favor, and courts in multiple countries have upheld the view that the panel’s compensation should be enforced. The French court was fully aware of the facts when it reached its decision.

“Far from being just a fence, the Ogun Free Trade Zone was featured as a significant international investment by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“Zhongshan has for a long time been ready to enter serious negotiations with the Federal Government of Nigeria to settle this case and still awaits an indication that the government is equally willing.”

However, the Ogun State government’s response to the incident, was that it described the French court’s verdict as unfair.

Media aide to the state governor, Kayode Akinmade, noted that the aircraft in question, “Are used solely for sovereign purposes and as such are immune from attachment under international and French law. In obtaining the provisional attachments, Zhongshan deliberately withheld information from the Federal Government of Nigeria, Ogun State, and their legal counsel.”

The Federal Government also condemned the seizure of the aircraft, stating that it would explore legal and diplomatic means to resolve the matter.

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Lady Arrested For Sending Lover’s Nude Picture To His Wife

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A Lagos-based businesswoman, Cynthia, has been dragged before a Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Ojo, for allegedly sending the nude picture of her lover, Mr Reuben, to his wife.

The accused was said to have sent the complaints nude picture and video to his wife after an attempt to blackmail him into paying her N2 million failed

The police told the court that trouble started between the lovers after the accused told the complaint that she was pregnant.

The prosecutor, ASP Simeon Uche, told the court that the accused became angry after she discovered that the complaint had blocked her line, and that attempt to reach him on phone to discuss her pregnancy failed.

“My Lord, all this while the complaint never knew that his lover, who happens to be the accused, had nude videos of him. She took the video during one of their outings.

“At that point, he blocked her from reaching him on phone. She later sent him threat messages, demanding for N2 million.

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The reason why the EFCC rejected the method by which Yahaya Bello reported to the commission.

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“Upon realising that Bello came with the governor and some dignitaries, the Executive Chairman directed that no official should attend to him.

“His manner of coming to EFCC was a breach of our protocol. No Nigerian, no matter how highly placed, is expected to come for an invitation in a convoy of vehicles and with a sitting governor.

“To the EFCC, he came with grandeur which is contrary to our procedures.

“There are stages of documentation which Bello skipped because he was with the governor who has immunity.

“The EFCC also did not invite the governor. So, what was the basis for accompanying Bello to our headquarters in Abuja?

“We have not been comfortable with the roles of the governor in this case.

“After fulfilling all procedures of documentation, Bello was expected to come with his lawyer(s) and not a governor or Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).

“We cannot be intimidated or subject our system to political pollution.

“This made the Executive Chairman of EFCC to direct that no official should attend to Bello. He must undergo due process like every invitee.

“The commission was unhappy with the pre-emptive propaganda in the media by Bello’s team which had created false impressions.

“There was a narration that the ex-governor was already in EFCC’s custody.” A source told The Nation.

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“We must fear a second Chernobyl”

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On the set of French news channel LCI, Sergei Zhirnov, former member of the KGG, commented on the recent statements by the head of NATO against Russia.

NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, supports the use of long-range weapons on Russian territory, which has provoked a virulent reaction from the Kremlin.

But for Sergei Jirnov, consultant for LCI:

“Stoltenberg has a cool head, he says, well, the Russians are a nuclear power, fine, but if we tremble every time there is a madman in the Duma or the Kremlin who pronounces the word nuclear, there’s no point in going out, getting up in the morning, because for two and a half years, they having been spending their time scaring us.”

And Jirnov continues: “the problem is that they’re not very careful with nuclear power. That means that they can create a second Chernobyl and that’s the problem. There are a certain number of specialists who believe that the Russian nuclear arsenal does not exist, and that it’s in a pitiful state”.

(MH with AmBar/Source: LCI/Photo: Yves Alarie/Unsplash)

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