The Federal Government of Nigeria has launched both legal and diplomatic measures to challenge the recent interim orders that led to the seizure of three Nigerian presidential aircraft in France.
The National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) are coordinating the response, according to a statement from Kamarudeen Ogundele, the spokesperson for AGF Lateef Fagbemi.
The government first learned of the aircraft’s provisional attachment on August 14, 2024. The orders, issued by the Judicial Court of Paris on March 7 and August 12, 2024, were obtained by Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, a Chinese firm seeking to enforce an arbitral award granted to it on March 26, 2021.
The dispute traces back to a contractual disagreement between Zhongshan and the Ogun State Government regarding the operation of the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone. Although the conflict originated at the state level, the enforcement actions are targeting the Federal Government due to international legal principles that attribute the actions of subnational entities to the state.
In its response, the Federal Government asserted that the aircraft are sovereign assets used exclusively for official functions and are thus protected from seizure. “We are taking all necessary actions to address and resolve this issue through legal channels,” the statement emphasized, reaffirming Nigeria’s stance on the immunity of its sovereign property.
The aircraft affected by the seizure include a Dassault Falcon 7X, stationed at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, a Boeing 737, and an Airbus A330, both located at Basel-Mulhouse Airport in Switzerland. At the time of the seizure, all three jets were undergoing routine maintenance.
