The ongoing saga involving the seizure of Nigerian assets by the Chinese firm, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Ltd, has taken a new turn with the recent confiscation of another Nigerian aircraft in Canada. This marks the latest development in a series of legal disputes between the company and Nigerian entities, which have resulted in the seizure of various assets across different countries. The firm, which was previously involved in the controversial seizure of three Nigerian aircraft in France, has now expanded its reach to North America.
This conflict resulted from a legal suit between Zhongshan Fucheng and the Ogun State Government of Nigeria. A French court, in respect of that, ruled in favor of the Chinese firm to seize three presidential aircraft. As an act of goodwill, the company agreed to release one of the planes ahead of a scheduled meeting between Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and French President Emmanuel Macron. Tinubu subsequently traveled to France aboard the released Airbus A330 business jet, amid ongoing controversies surrounding its acquisition.
Canadian court seizes Nigerian Bombardier Jet linked to OPL 245 scandal.
Meanwhile, the most recent development came from Canada, where Zhongshan Fucheng declared it had the legal right to seize a Bombardier 6000 type BD-700-1A10 aircraft. The plane, previously owned by the Nigerian government, was transferred to the Chinese company after Canadian officials received the necessary papers in Montreal. This happened shortly after the court order from a Quebec court gave the firm permission to seize the jet. The case, presided over by Judge David Collier of the Superior Court of Quebec, ended on March 21, 2024, with the rejection of all of Nigeria’s efforts to hang onto the aircraft.
It was revealed that a $57 million Bombardier 6000 jet was bought by a Nigerian fugitive, Dan Etete, as part of a lavish spending spree following his receipt of over $350 million from the controversial sale of OPL 245 in 2010. It was revealed that the Bombardier 6000 jet, valued at $57 million, had been acquired by Dan Etete, a Nigerian fugitive, as part of a lavish spending spree following his receipt of over $350 million from the controversial sale of the OPL 245 oil field in 2010.
$100M+ Nigerian assets have been seized amid disputes.
Zhongshan Fucheng’s relentless pursuit in enforcing its over $70 million arbitration awards has resulted in the confiscation of some high-value Nigerian assets overseas. In addition to the previously seized Bombardier 6000 in Canada, the firm has seized a Dassault Falcon 7X in Paris, two properties in Liverpool, a Boeing 737, and an Airbus A330 collectively valued at more than $100 million. This pattern of seizure of assets reflects a general trend of the kinds of challenges Nigeria is engaging in terms of international legal cases and financial costs of unsettled disputes with overseas entities.
Notably, the complicated nature of international arbitration and enforcement of awards when state assets come into play is being demonstrated by this case. Most importantly, it also points to a lack of transparency and accountability in past Nigerian governments and raises, perhaps most pointedly, questions about whether legal strategies adopted by the current or past administration could have insulated Nigeria’s assets better from seizure abroad. The protracted legal sparring will present an even more worrying scenario for the country on the levels of its international relations and fiscal stability.
Related Article: Chinese firm to sell Nig’s Liverpool property
Sadly, this is not the first time that Nigeria has been threatened with asset confiscation. One of the most prominent cases is that of P&ID. Back in 2012, an Irish engineering firm called P&ID agreed to a gas processing deal with the Nigerian government; while the deal fell through, it has been in court ever since. According to P&ID, the Nigerian government had violated the contract. In 2017, the company was awarded $6.6 billion in damages by an arbitration tribunal, which rose with interest to more than $9 billion. When Nigeria failed to pay the award, P&ID sought enforcement of the arbitration award by targeting Nigerian assets abroad. In 2019, a British court ruled that P&ID could seize Nigerian assets in the United Kingdom as part of the enforcement of the award.