Timelines Of Events Leading To The Seizure Of Nigerian Presidential Planes

The management of a Chinese firm, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Company Limited, has said its top officials were unlawfully detained and brutalised by the police during its contractual disagreement with the Ogun State Government.

The firm said the maltreatment compelled it to seek the seizure of Nigerian assets overseas.

The media was awash on Thursday with the news of the seizure of three of Nigeria’s presidential jets, as ordered by a French court.

Two of the seized jets – a Dassault Falcon 7X and a Boeing 737 – are part of Nigeria’s presidential air fleet recently put up for sale, and the third is an Airbus 330 purchased by Nigeria but not yet delivered.

The planes, which were undergoing routine maintenance, were seized following ex parte orders issued by the judicial court of Paris on March 7 and August 12, 2024.

The seizure came after litigations were initiated by the Chinese company against the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Ogun State Government due to the termination of a contractual agreement.

An arbitral tribunal subsequently awarded Zhongshan about $74.5m in compensation, but the state government did not honour the ruling.

The company then sought the intervention of the French court, which ordered the seizure of the Federal Government’s jets, including a Dassault Falcon 7X at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, a Boeing 737, and an Airbus 330 at Basel-Mulhouse Airport in Switzerland.

The Nigerian government reportedly paid over $100m for the Airbus.

Here’s a timeline of the events from the investment deal to the legal battles:

2001: China and Nigeria signed a bilateral investment treaty to encourage investment between the two countries.

2010: Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment, through its parent company Zhuhai Zhongfu Industrial Group, acquired rights to develop the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone (OGFTZ) in Ogun State, Nigeria.

2011: Zhongshan set up a local entity, Zhongfu International Investment (NIG) FZE, to manage the development of the free trade zone. The Chinese firm then carried out several works, including the development of infrastructure such as roads, sewerage and power networks, within the zone.

2012: Ogun State appointed Zhongfu as the interim manager of the OGFTZ.

2013: A joint venture agreement was signed, making Zhongfu the permanent manager of the OGFTZ and giving it a majority shareholding in the project.

2016: Ogun State abruptly terminated Zhongfu’s appointment and took actions to expel the company from Nigeria, including harassment of its executives and revocation of immigration papers.

2017: Zhongshan initiated arbitration proceedings against Nigeria, claiming breach of the bilateral investment treaty.

2021: On 26 March 2021, the tribunal, chaired by Lord Neuberger, the former president of the UK Supreme Court, ruled that Nigeria breached its obligations under the China-Nigeria BIT and issuing a final award of $55,675,000 in addition to an interest of $9.4 million and costs of £2,864,445 payable by Nigeria to Zhongshan. The total amount is about $70 million.

All efforts by the federal government to amicably resolve the dispute between Ogun State and the Chinese firm were fruitless.

2023: Nigeria sought state immunity in a legal case but was denied by the High Court in the UK, which ruled that the country had exceeded the time limit for appealing arbitral awards.

In July 2023, the UK Court of Appeal upheld a $70 million arbitration award against Nigeria.

As part of its efforts to recover the funds, the company secured interim charging orders over the two Liverpool properties owned by the Nigerian government in June and August 2022.

2024: The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirmed the enforceability of the arbitration award.

Nigeria challenged the enforcement but the court held that it had the jurisdiction to enforce the arbitral award under the US Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

August 2024: Nigerian jets were seized in France as part of efforts to enforce the arbitration award against Nigeria