Two former Ogun State governors, Ibikunle Amosun and Gbenga Daniel, have pledged to support the Federal Government’s efforts to recover national assets seized by a French court. The assets include three presidential jets—a Dassault Falcon 7X, a Boeing 737, and an Airbus 330—confiscated following a court ruling in favor of the Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Company Limited, which was awarded $74.5 million in damages.
In 2007, the Ogun State Government partnered with Zhongshan and another company to establish the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone Company. However, the partnership collapsed in the first half of 2016, leading Zhongshan to file lawsuits in Nigeria, which it lost. The company then pursued the case in a French court, which ruled in its favor and prohibited Nigeria from moving or selling the seized jets until the awarded amount was paid.
On Saturday, the former governors issued separate statements condemning Zhongshan as a fraudulent entity with no legitimate claim to compensation. Amosun emphasized that negotiating with Zhongshan would be equivalent to endorsing an unlawful entity with no standing to claim national assets. He explained that his administration, which took office in 2011, dealt with a business dispute between two Chinese companies—China Africa Investment FXE and Zhongfu International Investment FXE—over management rights to the free trade zone. After appointing Zhongfu as an interim manager in 2012, the state government later discovered that Zhongfu had made false claims against China Africa. As a result, Zhongfu’s management rights were terminated in 2016, and the company subsequently lost four legal cases in Nigerian courts.
Amosun stressed that the dispute between the Chinese entities had no connection with Ogun State or the Federal Government and urged Nigeria to handle the Zhongfu case similarly to how it dealt with the P&ID case. He expressed his willingness to assist government agencies in preventing Zhongfu from scamming the country.
Meanwhile, Gbenga Daniel, the senator representing Ogun East, offered to provide documents to support the Federal Government’s case against Zhongshan. He also expressed his readiness to help President Bola Tinubu diplomatically resolve the issue, describing it as a matter of national concern.
In a related development, the Federal Government has warned state governments against engaging in foreign negotiations without involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, emphasized that international agreements should be coordinated with the federal authorities to prevent future complications, noting that the Ogun State agreement with Zhongshan was made without federal knowledge, leading to the current dispute.
