Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, travelled to France on Monday amid controversy over jet planes seized by a French court in a dispute involving a Chinese company.
An airport source informed AFP that Tinubu was on the presidential Airbus A330, which had been impounded until just days prior. This plane was one of three confiscated for the Chinese firm Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment, amid an ongoing legal battle with Nigerian authorities. However, on Friday, Zhongshan released the jet as a gesture of goodwill.
Flight tracker Flight Radar 24 indicated that the Nigerian Air Force Airbus A330 departed Abuja around 4:00 PM (1500 GMT) for Nice. Tinubu’s spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, described the trip as a “brief work stay” in France, without specifying the aircraft.
French President Emmanuel Macron is also in southern France this week, but the Elysee Palace stated that no meeting was scheduled between the two leaders.
The dispute originated from a 2007 contract for Zhongshan to develop a free trade zone in Ogun state, which Nigerian officials terminated in 2015 due to the company’s failure to fulfill the agreement. Presidential adviser Bayo Onanuga noted that Zhongshan had only constructed a perimeter fence on the designated site.
In a recent statement, Onanuga accused Zhongshan of employing “unorthodox means” to seize Nigerian assets. This year, Zhongshan obtained two French court orders to confiscate Nigerian assets after a London arbitration tribunal awarded them over $60 million.
The Chinese firm claimed that the Ogun Free Trade Zone was marketed as a considerable international investment by the Economist Intelligence Unit and expressed a desire to reach a “reasonable compromise settlement rapidly,” according to Nigerian media.
Tinubu frequently visits France, having made a private trip earlier this year. The Nigerian presidency has not responded to media inquiries for comments.