Presidential Jets seizure: It’s a Chinese against Chinese dispute, by Ibikunle Amosun

We have read various media accounts of the above in both print and social media. We have also reviewed and align with the appropriate responses from the Ogun State and Federal Government. Government is a continuum, and the various segments of events leading to this unfortunate situation occurred before, during, and after our administration.

Our administration assumed office on May 29, 2011. Shortly after, two different Chinese companies, Messrs China Africa Investment FXE and Zhongfu International Investment FXE, laid claims to management rights over the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone (OGFTZ). The business dispute and rivalry between these Chinese concerns soon became fierce, grounding seamless business activities and threatening public peace and safety within the Zone and neighboring communities.

There were claims and counterclaims as to which entity was the lawful representative of the original joint venturer, Guangdong Province, China, and, consequently, 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 of 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 available to the government at the time, Zhongfu International Investment FXE was appointed as Interim Zone Manager on March 15, 2012, pending further evaluation. The whole idea was to ensure that someone was in charge and thereby prevent unwholesome and untoward developments 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 fabricated lies. Unknown to the Ogun Government at the time, Zhongfu International Investment FXE merely sought to undermine China Africa Investment FXE and surreptitiously take over the state-owned assets of Guangdong Province in China, together with the Zone ownership and management rights of their business rival.

It was much later discovered—through the intervention of the Chinese Government via Diplomatic Note 1601, dated March 11, 2016—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.

We recall that Zhongfu International Investment FXE approached Nigerian courts in different jurisdictions to assert its legal and business rights. They lost all four cases in court.

We also consulted with and took advice from the State Security Services and the supervising agency, NEPZA, on the best way to proceed. Accordingly, we served Zhongfu International Investment FXE with a formal Termination Notice dated May 27, 2016.

For completeness of records, we must mention that Zhongfu International Investment FXE proceeded to court. 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 shed light on this business dispute between two Chinese entities—Zhongfu and China Africa.

The final judgment in another case, Suit No AB/04/2017: Zenith Global Merchant International Investment Ltd vs. Zhongfu International Investment FXE, delivered on March 29, 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 to 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, including the Presidency, the Honorable Minister of Trade & Investment, the Attorney General & Minister of Justice, the 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.

In conclusion, without prejudice to the ongoing efforts of the Ogun State Government and the Federal Government of Nigeria, and with all sense of responsibility, I wish to categorically state that:

The agreement entered into at the inception of the Zone in 2007 with our predecessor is still in operation, and there was no need for any negotiation or renegotiation of any contract when we took office or throughout our eight-year tenure.

It is also not true that our administration sent police or any security agents to harass, intimidate, or beat anyone. If there was any such situation, it must have been among the disputing rivals in their 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 consideration, 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 same way Nigeria treated the P&ID case. There is no basis for negotiation.

I am ready to work with government agencies in any capacity to ensure that Nigeria is not scammed by Zhongfu International Investment FXE or any other entity.

Like every Nigerian, we are concerned that a purely business dispute between two Chinese nationals and corporations has now degenerated into an unlawful attempt to appropriate Nigeria’s sovereign assets.

This is unacceptable to all people of goodwill and must not be allowed to stand.

Senator Ibikunle Amosun, CON, FCA
Governor, Ogun State (2011–2019) Senator, Ogun Central Senatorial District (2003–2007 and 2019–2023)