The Federal Government has taken decisive legal and diplomatic steps to retrieve three presidential aircraft that have been temporarily seized in France. The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), disclosed this development in a statement on Thursday.
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According to Fagbemi, the Nigerian government became aware on August 14 of the interim attachment of the three aircraft, which were undergoing routine maintenance in France.
The attachment was ordered by the Judicial Court of Paris following ex-parte orders issued on March 7 and August 12, 2024, at the request of Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Company Limited, a Chinese firm. This company is seeking to enforce a final arbitration award granted in its favor on March 26, 2021, against Ogun State.
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The AGF explained that the arbitration award stems from a dispute between the Chinese company and the Ogun State Government over the management of the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone, which began in 2018. Despite the dispute originating with Ogun State, enforcement actions have been directed against the Federal Government and its assets, based on international law principles that attribute the actions of subnational entities to the state.
Fagbemi emphasized that the offices of the National Security Adviser and the Attorney-General of the Federation have already initiated legal and diplomatic efforts to secure the release of the aircraft, which are protected by sovereign immunity.
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He reiterated the Federal Government’s stance that the aircraft are sovereign assets used solely for sovereign purposes and are therefore immune from seizure, as attempted by Zhongshan.
Further actions are being pursued to resolve the dispute through available legal avenues, ensuring that the inappropriate orders against the aircraft are discharged.
