The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced that the Offices of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) have initiated legal and diplomatic measures to secure the release of three presidential aircraft temporarily seized in France.
This development was disclosed in a statement issued by Kamarudeen Ogundele, the spokesperson for AGF Lateef Fagbemi. According to Ogundele, the Federal Government became aware of the interim attachment of the aircraft on Wednesday, August 14, 2024.
The temporary attachment was executed following ex parte orders issued by the Judicial Court of Paris on March 7 and August 12, 2024, at the request of Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, a Chinese company attempting to enforce a Final Award granted in its favor on March 26, 2021, against Ogun State.
“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,” the statement read.
The Federal Government clarified that although the dispute originated from engagements with the Ogun State Government, “the consequential enforcement actions are being directed against the Federal Government and its assets in line with extant principles of international law which hold that the actions of a subnational or local entity are attributable to the State or country itself.”
The statement further emphasized the government’s position that “the aircraft in question are sovereign assets used solely for sovereign purposes and are therefore immune from attachment as Zhongshan has sought to do.” While additional actions are being taken to resolve the dispute through legal means, the government remains firm in its stance on the immunity of the aircraft.
