Jets Seizure: Don’t enter foreign deals alone, minister cautions state govts

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, has cautioned state governments not to enter foreign or international negotiations without involving the necessary agencies of the Federal Government.

Tuggar said this while disclosing steps being taken to resolve the seizure of three Nigerian presidential jets by Chinese company Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment over a judgement obtained in a Paris court against the Ogun government.

The court had allowed Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment to use Nigeria’s presidential jets at the Paris-Le Bourget and Basel-Mulhouse international airports as “security for its claim of EUR 74,459,221.”

Tuggar explained that he has been working with the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, on the diplomatic and legal fronts to ensure the issue is resolved.

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“This is part of the problem when sub-national actors like state governments take it upon themselves to enter into agreements, or international arrangements, without recourse to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the federal government. When things go awry, we are left with the problem to resolve,” Tuggar said.

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

“This is something that Ogun state, under a different administration—not this governor—entered into, of which we were unaware. All we know is that they are now going after Nigerian assets.

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

Tuggar stressed the importance of involving those with experience, skills, and training in negotiating such agreements.