The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, has stated that the recent seizure of three Nigerian presidential jets by the Chinese company Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment, due to a dispute with Ogun State, highlights the risks of states entering international negotiations without the involvement of federal agencies.
Speaking on the measures being taken to address the situation, Tuggar explained that the court in Paris had granted Zhongshan the right to use Nigeria’s presidential jets at the Paris-Le Bourget and Basel-Mulhouse airports as security for a claim of EUR 74,459,221 against Ogun State.
He emphasized the importance of involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant federal entities in such international agreements to prevent similar issues. “This is part of the problem when sub-national actors like state governments take it upon themselves to go into agreements, go into international arrangements, without recourse to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, without recourse to the federal government, and then when it goes awry, we are left with the problem to deal with,” Tuggar said.
He pointed out that the situation arose from an agreement made by Ogun State under a previous administration and reiterated that foreign or international negotiations should not be handled by sub-national actors without the necessary experience and training.
The Special Adviser to the President on Communication and Publicity, Kamarudeen Ogundele, stated that the federal government became aware of the interim attachment of the aircraft on August 14, following ex-parte orders from the Judicial Court of Paris. The orders were issued on March 7 and August 12, 2024, due to a contractual dispute between Ogun State and Zhongshan concerning the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone.
Ogundele clarified that although the dispute originated with Ogun State, the enforcement actions are directed against the federal government and its assets, as per international law principles that hold a country responsible for its sub-national entities.
The federal government, through the offices of the National Security Adviser and the Attorney-General of the Federation, is taking both legal and diplomatic steps to resolve the matter. The government maintains that the aircraft are sovereign assets used for sovereign purposes and are therefore immune from attachment.
Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, also accused Zhongshan of using deceptive tactics to seize the federal government’s offshore assets.
