The Presidency has disclosed that it is fully aware of the multiple failed attempts by Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, a Chinese company, to seize offshore assets of the Federal Government of Nigeria through deceptive means.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, stated: “The Federal Government is not under any contractual obligation with the company. The case in which Zhongshan is trying to use every unorthodox means to strip our offshore assets is between the company and the Ogun State Government.”
Onanuga clarified that the Federal Government is well-informed about the efforts of the Ogun State Government to reach an amicable resolution on the matter. He emphasised, “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.”
He further highlighted that when the contract was revoked in 2015, “the company had only erected a perimeter fence on the land earmarked for a free trade zone.”
Despite ongoing attempts to resolve the matter, Onanuga pointed out that Zhongshan obtained two orders from the Judicial Court of Paris on March 7, 2024, and August 12, 2024, “without any notice being duly served on the Federal Government of Nigeria and Ogun State Government.”
“This arm-twisting tactic by the Chinese company is the latest in a long list of failed moves to attach Nigerian government-owned assets in foreign jurisdictions,” he added.
Onanuga drew a parallel with the infamous P&ID case, stating, “The material facts in the transaction between the Ogun State Government and Zhongshan point to another P&ID case in which unscrupulous and questionable individuals falsely present themselves as investors with the sole objective of undercutting and scamming Governments in Africa.”
He accused Zhongshan of misleading the Judicial Court in Paris, saying, “Zhongshan withheld vital information and misled the Judicial Court in Paris into attaching the Nigerian government’s presidential jets, which are on routine maintenance in France. The use and nature of the Presidential jets as assets of a Sovereign entity whose assets are protected by diplomatic immunity forbid any foreign Court from issuing an order against them.”
Onanuga expressed the Presidency’s conviction that “the Chinese company misled the Judicial Court of Paris regarding the use and nature of the assets it seeks to attach and did not fully disclose to the court as required by law.”
He also noted that “this same Chinese company had tried to enforce its questionable judgment in the UK and USA but failed.”
Onanuga warned of a pattern similar to the P&ID case, where foreign companies attempt to defraud Nigeria in collaboration with some bureaucrats. “Zhongshan appeared to have sold the judgment they got to a venture capitalist seeking to make money by embarrassing the Federal Government and President Bola Tinubu,” he stated.
The Presidency assured Nigerians that “the Federal Government is working with the Ogun State Government to discharge this frivolous order in Paris immediately,” adding that “the Nigerian Government will always work to protect our national assets from predators and shylocks who masquerade as investors.”
Background to the Zhongshan Fucheng Case:
The dispute between Ogun State and Zhongshan began with a 2007 contract for managing a free-trade zone. A conflict arose in 2015, leading to arbitration in 2016. By 2019, the Arbitral Panel awarded over $60 million against the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), despite Zhongshan’s limited contribution of merely building a perimeter fence around the zone.
The Ogun State Government, on legal advice, decided to resist the enforcement of this award, successfully doing so in eight different jurisdictions. Appeals are still pending against recognition orders in both the US and UK.
Ogun State also engaged in settlement discussions with Zhongshan. A notable meeting occurred in September 2023 in London, attended by Governor Dapo Abiodun and the Attorney General/Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi. However, Zhongshan’s initial willingness to negotiate was abruptly reversed, insisting on full payment of the arbitration debt, leading to a breakdown in the mediation.
Since then, Zhongshan has avoided further discussions and pursued a series of enforcement proceedings, which have been successfully opposed by the legal teams of the FGN and Ogun State. Despite this, Ogun State continues to seek a reasonable settlement, with the most recent communication sent to Zhongshan just last week. Zhongshan only responded after obtaining the latest questionable order.