More trouble for Tinubu’s govt as US court authorises Chinese firm to seize Nigeria’s assets abroad

President Bola Tinubu’s administration could be in complete disarray as another appellate court in the United States has authorised a Chinese firm, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, to proceed with its efforts to seize Nigeria’s assets abroad.

This decision is part of the firm’s effort to enforce a $70 million arbitration award against the Nigerian authorities.

Newsband reported that the Federal government on Thursday, accused Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment of attempting to strip Nigeria’s offshore assets through deceitful means.

A statement by Bayo Onanuga, the spokesman of president Bola Tinubu described it unlawful the company’s attempts to take over federal government assets as no contractual obligations exist between the parties.

A French court had earlier authorised the seizure of the three presidential jets due to the ongoing dispute between Zhongshan and the Ogun State government.

The seized aircraft include a Dassault Falcon 7X at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, a Boeing 737, and an Airbus 330 at Basel-Mulhouse Airport in Switzerland.

The aircrafts undergoing routine maintenance in France and Switzerland, were seized following orders issued by the Judicial Court of Paris on March 7 and August 12, 2024.

Meanwhile, the legal dispute stems from a 2016 decision by the Ogun state government to revoke Zhongshan’s export processing zone management contract, which resulted to a long legal battle that has now spilled over into international courts.

The federal government of Nigeria unfortunately found itself in the cross fire due to actions taken by Ogun government.

Meanwhile, in the majority judgment issued by Patricia Millett and Julianna Childs, the US appellant court held that the final arbitration award is enforceable under the New York convention since the dispute is between “persons” that share a legal commercial relationship.

The court ruled that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) arbitration exception stripped Nigeria of the sovereign immunity in the arbitration award case.

The majority judgment reads, “For the foregoing reasons, we hold that the final award is enforceable under the New York convention because it arose out of differences between ‘persons’ that share a legal, commercial relationship.

“The district court therefore has jurisdiction over this case under the FSIA’s arbitration exception. The judgment of the district court is affirmed.”

However, in the dissenting judgment, the third judge, Gregory Katsas, argued that when the New York convention was drafted, the word “persons” did not include a sovereign nation.

Katsas held that the action of Ogun state cannot be attributed to Nigeria, adding that the arbitration award “arises solely out of Nigeria’s sovereign acts governed by public international law”.

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