August 17, (THEWILL) – Former Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has broken his silence on the controversy surrounding the dispute between the Ogun State Government and a Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, that led to the seizure of Nigerian assets, including presidential jets.
Amosun, who was the governor of Ogun State between 2011 and 2019, described Zhongshan as an impostor.
Earlier, THEWILL reported on ex-parte orders issued by the Judicial Court of Paris, on March 7, and August 12, 2024, that authorised the seizure of three presidential jets undergoing routine maintenance in France and Switzerland – a Dassault Falcon 7X, a Boeing 737 and a newly acquired Airbus A330 valued at over $100 million.
These orders were obtained by Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, a Chinese company seeking to enforce an arbitral award of $74.5 million granted in its favor in 2021 against Ogun State.
The former governor, in a statement he personally signed on Saturday, said the dispute began in 2011, when two Chinese companies, China Africa Investment FXE and Zhongfu International Investment FXE, laid claims to management rights over the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone (OGFTZ).
He explained that Zhongfu volunteered damaging information about China Africa Investment FXE, leading to its appointment as interim zone manager in 2012. However, it was later discovered that Zhongfu’s claims were false and the company was merely trying to covet the state-owned assets of Guangdong Province in China.
The former governor stated that the Chinese government later clarified that China Africa Investment FXE was the rightful investor, leading to the termination of Zhongfu’s appointment in 2016. He also revealed that Zhongfu lost several court cases and petitions to higher authorities in Abuja.
Amosun added that the agreement entered into in 2007, with his predecessor is still in operation and that there was no need for renegotiation during his tenure. He also denied allegations of harassment and intimidation by security agents and urged the government to treat the matter like the P&ID case, with no basis for negotiation.
Titled ‘ZHONGFU FIRM IS AN IMPOSTOR, IT’S CHINESE AGAINST CHINESE DISPUTE’, the statement read:
We have read various media accounts of the above in both print and social media. We have also read and aligned with the very appropriate responses from Ogun State and the Federal Government. At different levels, government is a continuum and the various segments of events leading to this unfortunate situation occurred before, during and after our administration.
Our administration assumed office on May 29, 2011. Very shortly after we took office, two different sets of Chinese companies, Messrs China Africa Investment FXE and Zhongfu International Investment FXE, laid claims to management rights over the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone (OGFTZ). The business dispute and rivalry between Chinese concerns soon became fierce, grounded seamless business activities, and threatened public peace and safety within the Zone and neighboring communities.
There were claims and counterclaims as to who between the two was the lawful representative of the original joint venturer, Guangdong Province, China, and consequentially, who had the right to manage the Zone.
Zhongfu International Investment FXE, pretending to be a concerned and genuine tenant and Zone stakeholder, volunteered very damaging and destructive information about the official representatives of Guangdong Province, the joint venturer and lawful Zone managers, China Africa Investment FXE and subsequently requested to be appointed as interim zone managers.
Based on the information at the government’s disposal, Zhongfu International Investment FXE was appointed interim zone manager on March 15, 2012, pending further evaluation. The idea was to ensure that someone was in charge and thereby prevent unwholesome and untoward developments in the Zone pending the completion of our fact-finding exercise.
It was later discovered that the information and claims volunteered by Zhongfu International Investment FXE, against China Africa Investment FXE were tissues of lies.
Unknown to the Ogun government at the time, Zhongfu International Investment FXE merely sought to de-market China Africa Investment FXE and to surreptitiously covet the state-owned assets of Guangdong Province in China together with the Zone ownership and management rights of their business rival.
It was further discovered-much later – through the intervention of the Chinese government via Diplomatic Note 1601, dated March 11, 2016.
The government of the People’s Republic of China, via its Diplomatic Note 1601 dated March 11, 2016, clarified to the Ogun State Government that China Africa Investment FXE was the rightful investor. After consulting with the relevant government organs, we followed the Chinese government’s request.
We do recall that Zhongfu International Investment FXE approached Nigerian courts in different jurisdictions to ventilate its legal and business rights. They lost all four cases in court.
We also consulted with and took advice from the State Security Services and the supervising agency, NEPZA, on the best way to proceed. Accordingly, we served Zhongfu International Investment FXE with a formal termination notice dated May 27, 2016.
For the completeness of records, we would like to mention that Zhongfu International Investment FXE went to court.
The proceedings in Suit Nos HCT/417/2016: Zhongfu International Investment FXE vs OGFTZ and FCT/ABJ/CS/601/2016: Zhongfu International Investment FXE vs NEPZA & Ors will help to shed light on this business dispute between two Chinese entities, Zhongfu and China Africa.
The final judgment in one other case, Suit No AB/04/2017: Zenith Global Merchant International Investment Ltd vs Zhongfu International Investment FXE delivered on March 29, 2017, specifically restrained a reference to arbitration in the special circumstances of the matter being a trade dispute between two Chinese entities – Zhongfu and China Africa, with little or no connection with either Ogun State or the Federal Government.
Not satisfied with the decisions of the various courts, Zhongfu International Investment FXE took its case and wrote petitions at various times to higher authorities in Abuja: the Presidency, Hon Minister of Trade & Investment; Attorney General & Minister of Justice, Inspector General of Police, EFCC and the National Assembly (both the House of Representatives and the Senate) among others.
We successfully defended our actions at all levels before these organs of government and they all agreed with our position. Shortly after, our administration left office in May 2019.
In conclusion, without prejudice to the ongoing efforts of the Ogun State Government and the Federal Government of Nigeria and with all sense of responsibility, I wish to categorically state that:
The agreement that was entered into at the inception of the Zone in 2007, with our predecessor is what is still in operation and there was no need for any negotiation or renegotiation of any contract when we came in and throughout our eight (8) years tenure.
It is also not true that our administration sent police or any security agents to harass, intimidate, or beat anyone. If there was any such situation, it must have been from among the disputing rivals in the bid to outdo one another. Security agencies can further investigate the allegation and uphold the truth.
Nigeria should not give Zhongfu International Investment FXE any listening ear, as doing so would amount to indulging and encouraging an unlawful entity without locus 50-year-old Dnd.
