The Federal Government has declared that its presidential jets are protected by sovereign immunity and cannot be seized by foreign courts. This declaration comes after three of Nigeria’s presidential aircraft, which were undergoing routine maintenance in France, were temporarily seized by the Judicial Court of Paris.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, stated that the aircraft in question are sovereign assets, meaning they are used exclusively for official state purposes and are thus immune from attachment by any external authority. This means that these jets, which are part of the presidential fleet, cannot be used to settle any debts or legal disputes involving the Nigerian government.
The issue arose after Zhongshan Industrial Investment Company Limited, a Chinese firm, obtained ex parte orders from the Judicial Court of Paris. These orders led to the temporary seizure of the jets due to an alleged debt related to a contract with Ogun State, a subnational government in Nigeria.
Fagbemi explained that the Federal Government is taking both diplomatic and legal actions to address the situation. The Office of the National Security Adviser and the Attorney General’s Office are working together to challenge the orders and secure the release of the aircraft. According to Fagbemi, the government’s position is that the aircraft are sovereign assets and should not be subject to seizure by foreign entities.
Special Adviser to the President on Communication and Publicity, Kamarudeen Ogundele, also confirmed that the federal government learned about the seizure on August 14. The orders for the attachment of the aircraft were issued by the Judicial Court of Paris on March 7, 2024, and August 12, 2024, following legal action by Zhongshan.
The legal dispute dates back to 2018, when Zhongshan sought to enforce an arbitral award against the Ogun State government. This award arose from a contractual disagreement over the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone. Although the original dispute involved Ogun State, the enforcement actions have been directed at federal assets.
Ogundele clarified that while the dispute originated with Ogun State, the enforcement actions against the federal government are based on international legal principles that hold the actions of state or local entities as attributable to the nation as a whole.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga also accused Zhongshan of using deceptive tactics to target Nigerian assets abroad. Onanuga argued that the Chinese firm had previously attempted to enforce its claims in other countries, such as the UK and the USA, without success.
Onanuga criticized Zhongshan for not properly informing the French court about the nature of the presidential jets and their protected status. He described the company’s actions as part of a broader pattern of attempts to defraud Nigeria, likening the situation to the controversial P&ID case, where foreign companies were accused of trying to exploit Nigerian assets.
Onanuga noted that Zhongshan’s attempt to seize the presidential jets was based on an outdated contract from 2007, which was terminated in 2015 after the company had only made minimal progress on the agreed project. He praised the Ogun State government for its efforts to resolve the issue amicably and criticized Zhongshan for its aggressive legal tactics.
