CHINESE COMPANY'S FRAUDULENT ATTEMPT TO STRIP NIGERIA'S ASSETS ABROAD

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The Presidency has responded to what it describes as repeated unsuccessful attempts by the Chinese company Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited to seize Nigeria’s offshore assets through deceptive methods.

In a statement by Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, it was clarified that the Federal Government has no contractual obligations with Zhongshan.

The dispute, in which the company is using unorthodox tactics to claim offshore assets, is actually between Zhongshan and the Ogun State Government. The Federal Government is fully aware of the Ogun State Government’s ongoing efforts to resolve the issue amicably.

Onanuga continued: “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 Ogun State revoked the contract in 2015, the company had only constructed a perimeter fence on the land designated for a free trade zone. Despite efforts by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, in collaboration with the Ogun State Government, to reach an amicable resolution, Zhongshan obtained two orders from the Judicial Court of Paris on March 7, 2024, and August 12, 2024, without properly notifying the Federal Government of Nigeria or the Ogun State Government.

This coercive tactic by the Chinese company is the latest in a series of failed attempts to seize Nigerian government-owned assets in foreign countries. The details of the transaction between Ogun State and Zhongshan suggest a situation similar to the P&ID case, where dubious individuals falsely present themselves as investors with the intent to defraud African governments.

It is clear that Zhongshan withheld critical information and misled the Paris Court, resulting in the attachment of Nigeria’s presidential jets, which are currently undergoing routine maintenance in France. As assets of a sovereign state, these jets are protected by diplomatic immunity, preventing any foreign court from issuing an order against them.

We believe that the Chinese company misled the Judicial Court of Paris about the nature and use of the assets it aims to seize and failed to fully disclose the required information to the court. This same company has previously attempted, unsuccessfully, to enforce its dubious judgment in the UK and USA.

Similar to the P&ID case, foreign companies are attempting to defraud Nigeria, potentially with the assistance of some bureaucrats. It seems that Zhongshan may have sold the judgment it obtained to a venture capitalist intent on profiting by embarrassing the Federal Government and President Bola Tinubu.

We want to assure Nigerians that the Federal Government, in coordination with the Ogun State Government, is actively working to overturn this baseless order in Paris. The Nigerian Government remains committed to protecting our national assets from predatory entities posing as investors.

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