Nigeria begins process to recover three presidential aircrafts in France

The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has reacted to the news of interim attachment of three Presidential aircraft undergoing routine maintenance in France.

Speaking through the Special Adviser to the President on Communication and Publicity, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Kamarudeen Ogundele, the AGF said the offices of the National Security Adviser and the Attorney-General of the Federation have already set in motion, both legal and diplomatic steps to ensure the discharge of the inappropriate orders against the aircraft, which are covered by sovereign immunity.

The AGF further clarified that though the dispute originated from engagements of Ogun State Government, the consequential enforcement actions were directed against the Federal Government and its assets in line with extant principles of international law.

The law holds that the actions of a sub-national or local entity are attributable to the State or country itself.

“While further actions are being put in place to resolve the entire dispute through available legal means, the firm position of the Federal Government remains that the aircraft in question are sovereign assets used solely for sovereign purposes and are therefore, immune from attachment as Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited had sought to do.

The Federal Government was on Wednesday, notified of interim attachment of three Presidential aircraft undergoing routine maintenance in France.

The said temporary attachment was made pursuant to exparte orders issued by the Judicial Court of Paris dated March 7 and August 12 respectively, at the instance of Messrs. Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, a Chinese firm seeking to enforce a Final Award granted in its favour on March 26, 2021, against one of Nigeria’s sub-nationals, Ogun State.

The AGF informed that the arbitral award arose from an arbitration proceeding which commenced in 2018 as a fallout of a contractual dispute between the Chinese company and Ogun State Government over the operation and management of Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone.