Seized aircraft: FG working to resolve dispute with Chinese firm, says Tuggar

Seized aircraft: FG working to resolve dispute with Chinese firm, says Tuggar

Yusuf Tuggar, the minister of foreign affairs, says the
federal government is working to resolve its dispute with Zhongshan Fucheng
Industrial Investment, a Chinese firm.

 

A French court recently ordered the seizure of three
presidential jets belonging to Nigeria over a contract dispute between the
Chinese firm and Ogun state government.

 

The court ruled that the firm should use Nigeria’s jets at
the Paris-Le Bourget and Basel-Mulhouse international airports as “security for
its claim of EUR 74,459,221”.

 

A US appeal court also ruled that Nigeria’s claim to
sovereign immunity cannot stand in a commercial venture.

 

The court rejected Nigeria’s sovereign immunity defence to
the enforcement of a $70 million investment treaty award won by Zhongshan
Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd. in a free trade zone.

 

The Chinese company said it would release one of Nigeria’s
seized presidential jets.

 

Speaking with reporters in Malabo, the capital city of
Equatorial Guinea, on Friday, Tuggar said he and Lateef Fagbemi, the
attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice, are on top of
the situation.

 

 “This is part of the
problem when sub-national actors like state governments take it upon themselves
to go into agreements, go into international arrangements, without recourse to
the ministry of foreign affairs, without recourse to the federal government,
and then when it goes awry, we are left with the problem to deal with,” he
said.

 

“That is why it is always important that such arrangements
should be registered with the mission there, with the embassy, with the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and with the federal government.

 

“This is something that Ogun state, under a different
administration, not this governor, entered into that we’re not aware of. All we
know is that they’re going after Nigerian assets.

 

“That’s why, really, foreign or international negotiations
are not the purview of sub-national actors.

 

 “You should always
have those that are experienced in such an area that have the necessary skills
and the necessary training to negotiate these sorts of agreements.”

 

The minister said updates would be provided on the matter.

Source: Seized aircraft: FG working to resolve dispute with Chinese firm, says Tuggar

 - NigerianEye
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