Chinese firm targeting Nigerian assets in eight countries over Ogun FTZ deal — Report

Chinese company Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited is reportedly planning to seize assets belonging to Nigeria in eight countries.

Zhongshan received an order from a court in Paris, France, to ground three presidential aircraft owned by the Federal Government in Europe and is planning to seize a few others.

To achieve its aim, Zhongshan is said to have instituted legal proceedings in about eight jurisdictions globally regarding the dispute with Nigeria.

Reports claim that the Chinese firm has targeted other Nigerian assets in the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA), and six other countries.

The PUNCH, which cited some untitled documents, reports that the other countries include Belgium, Canada, France, Singapore, and the British Virgin Islands, as per documents obtained on Thursday.

“In 2007, the Ogun State Government, in partnership with the Guangdong province in China, conceived and set up the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone, which sits on 2,000 hectares in Igbesa, Ogun State,” the paper quoted the document as reading.

“Ogun State signed a Joint Venture Agreement directly with China Guangdong Xinguang China-Africa Investment Limited representing Guangdong Province in the joint venture. OGFTZ houses several enterprises as well as sub-developments, including one Fucheng Industrial Park, measuring 224 hectares. In 2010, OGFTZ contracted Zhongshan to develop and manage Fucheng Industrial Park.

“However, in 2012, Ogun State terminated the joint venture with CAI because CAI had not met obligations under the 2007 JVA. Ogun State then appointed Zhongshan as an interim manager of the Zone, since it was already managing Fucheng Industrial Park. In June 2012, Zhongshan assumed management control of a 51 per cent stake in CAI and subsequently signed another JVA with Ogun State Government in September 2013.

“The company had been making efforts to enforce the tribunal award. As of August 2024, there are court proceedings in about eight jurisdictions of the world regarding this dispute.

“These include the USA, UK, Belgium, Canada, France, and the British Virgin Islands. To date, Zhongshan has not realised a single penny from the award, and all signs indicate that Zhongshan is unlikely to do so anytime soon. The company is still tracking the location of Nigerian assets abroad.”

The Presidency, meanwhile, has accused Zhongshan of plotting to take over Nigeria’s offshore assets using unorthodox means.

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the accusation against Zhongshan in a statement on Thursday.

Onanuga said the presidency has uncovered secret attempts by the Chinese firm to take over Nigeria’s offshore assets.

He also distanced the presidency from the company, adding that the Federal Government is not under any contractual obligation with Zhongshan.

“The Presidency is aware of the various failed attempts by a Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, to take over offshore assets of the Federal Government of Nigeria through subterfuge,” Onanuga said.

“The Federal Government is not under any contractual obligation with the company. The case in which Zhongshan is trying to use every unorthodox means to strip our offshore assets is between the company and the Ogun State Government.

“The Federal Government is fully aware of efforts being made by the Ogun State Government to reach an amicable resolution on the matter.

“It must be said without any equivocation that Zhongshan has no solid ground to demand restitution from the Ogun State Government based on the facts regarding the 2007 contract between the company and the state government to manage a free-trade zone.

“When the contract with Ogun State was revoked in 2015, the company had only erected a perimeter fence on the land earmarked for a free-trade zone.

“While the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is working with the Ogun State Government on an amicable resolution, Zhongshan obtained two orders from the Judicial Court of Paris dated March 7, 2024, and August 12, 2024, without any notice being duly served on the Federal Government of Nigeria and Ogun State Government.

“This arm-twisting tactic by the Chinese company is the latest in a long list of failed moves to attach Nigerian government-owned assets in foreign jurisdictions.

“The material facts in the transaction between the Ogun State Government and Zhongshan point to another P&ID case in which unscrupulous and questionable individuals falsely present themselves as investors with the sole objective of undercutting and scamming governments in Africa.

“Undoubtedly, Zhongshan withheld vital information and misled the Judicial Court in Paris into attaching the Nigerian government’s presidential jets, which are on routine maintenance in France. The use and nature of the presidential jets as assets of a sovereign entity, whose assets are protected by diplomatic immunity, forbid any foreign court from issuing an order against them.

“We are convinced the Chinese company misled the Judicial Court of Paris regarding the use and nature of the assets it seeks to attach and did not fully disclose to the court as required by law.”

According to Onanuga, this same Chinese company had tried to enforce its questionable judgement in the UK and USA but failed.