Former Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has described Zhongfu International Investment FXE, the Chinese firm in the middle of the ongoing controversy surrounding the seizure of three Nigerian presidential jets, as a dishonest company.
Senator Amosun, in a statement he issued yesterday, decried the embarrassment caused by the seizure of Nigeria’s sovereign assets following an order the firm secured from a French Court to confiscate the three jets over alleged breach of contract agreements by the Ogun State government.
He accused the Chinese firm of plotting to scam Nigeria through fraudulent means but expressed confidence that the matter would end like the issue of the P&ID, which after all the attempts failed in its plot to defraud the Nigerian state.
Attempt By Chinese Firm To Seize Presidential Jets Fraudulent – Presidency
The Chinese firm had on Friday announced the release of one of the aircraft to enable Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to travel to France to attend an important function next week.
It said Airbus A330, detained in France as a result of the court order, is needed to convey the Nigerian leader to France for a scheduled meeting with President Macron of France early next week.
The court order prohibits the jets’ movement, sale, or purchase until Zhongshan receives the awarded $74.5 million. Bailiffs had already served papers for each aircraft.
The firm said its release of one of the aircraft was a gesture of goodwill, adding that it remains committed to talks with representatives of the federal government of Nigeria in order to resolve the dispute quickly by reaching a reasonable compromise.
However, Amosun, who delved into the history of the so-called deal, pointed out that the controversy was an issue between two Chinese firms and nationals, which degenerated into an unlawful attempt to appropriate Nigeria’s sovereign assets. He described Zhongfu as an impostor.
He said that shortly after his assumption of office as Ogun State governor on May 29, 2011, two different Chinese companies, Messrs China Africa Investment FXE and Zhongfu International Investment FXE laid claims to the management rights over the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone (OGFTZ). He noted that the business dispute and rivalry between the Chinese concerns soon became fierce, grounded seamless business activities and threatened public peace and safety within the Zone and neighbouring communities.
“There were claims and counter-claims as to who between the two was the lawful representative of the original joint venturer, Guangdong Province, China, and consequentially who had the right to manage the Zone.
“Zhongfu International Investment FXE, pretending to be a concerned and genuine tenant and Zone stakeholder, volunteered very damaging and destructive information about the official representatives Guangdong Province, the Joint Venturer and lawful Zone managers, China Africa Investment FXE, and subsequently requested to be appointed as interim Zone managers.
“Based on the information at the disposal of the government at the time, Zhongfu International Investment FXE was on 15/03/2012 appointed as interim Zone manager pending further evaluation. The whole idea was to ensure that someone was in charge and thereby prevent unwholesome and untoward development in the Zone, pending the completion of our fact-finding exercise.
“It was later discovered that the information and claims volunteered by Zhongfu International Investment FXE against China Africa Investment FXE were tissues of lies.”
Amosun claimed, in the statement, that unknown to Ogun Government at the time, Zhongfu International Investment FXE merely sought to de-market China Africa Investment FXE and to surreptitiously convert the state-owned assets of Guangdong Province in China together with the Zone ownership and management rights of their business rival.
According to Amosun, the company’s machinations were discovered later on through the intervention of the Chinese Government.
“The Government of the People’s Republic of China, via its Diplomatic Note 1601 dated 11th March, 2016 clarified to the Ogun State Government that China Africa Investment FXE was the rightful investor. After due consultation with the relevant organs of government, we gave effect to the request of the Chinese Government,” he explained,
The former governor recalled that Zhongfu International Investment FXE had approached Nigerian courts in different jurisdictions to ventilate its legal and business rights but lost all their four cases in court.
He added that the Ogun State government also consulted with and took advice from the Department of State Services and the supervising Agency, NEPZA, on the best way to proceed and, accordingly, the Ogun government served Zhongfu International Investment FXE with a formal Termination Notice dated 27th May, 2016. This development, he noted, prompted Zhongfu International Investment FXE to proceed to court.
Amosun continued: “Among others, the proceedings in Suit No HCT/417/2016: Zhongfu International Investment FXE Vs OGFTZ and FCT/ABJ/CS/601/2016: Zhongfu International Investment FXE Vs NEPZA & Ors will help to throw light on this business dispute between two Chinese entities- Zhongfu and China Africa.
“The final judgement in one other case, Suit No AB/04/2017: Zenith Global Merchant International Investment Ltd Vs Zhongfu International Investment FXE delivered on 29/3/2017 specifically restrained a reference to arbitration in the special circumstances of the matter being a trade dispute between two Chinese entities- Zhongfu and China Africa, with little or no connection with either Ogun State or the federal government.
“Not satisfied with the decisions of the various courts, Zhongfu International Investment FXE took its case, and wrote petitions at various times, to higher authorities in Abuja; the Presidency, Hon Minister of Trade and Investment; Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Inspector General of Police, EFCC and the National Assembly (both the House of Representatives and the Senate) among others.
“We successfully defended our actions at all levels before these organs of government, and they all agreed with our position. Shortly after, our administration left office in May, 2019.”
He stated that without prejudice to the ongoing efforts of the Ogun State Government and the Federal Government of Nigeria, the agreement that was entered into at the inception of the Zone in 2007 with his predecessor is what is still in operation, adding that there was no need for any negotiation or re-negotiation of any contract when his administration came in and throughout his eight years in office.
“It is also not true that our administration sent police or any security agent to harass, intimidate, or beat anyone. If there was any such situation, it must have been from among the disputing rivals in the bid to outdo one another. Security agencies can further investigate the allegation and uphold the truth.
“Nigeria should not give Zhongfu International Investment FXE any listening ear as doing so would amount to indulging and encouraging an unlawful entity without locus standi to appropriate our common patrimony.
“Stemming from the above, this matter of Zhongfu International Investment FXE should be treated the way Nigeria treated the P&ID case. There is no basis for negotiation.
“I am ready to work with the agencies of government in any capacity to ensure that Nigeria is not scammed by Zhongfu International Investment FXE, or any other entity,” he added.
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