Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd, a Chinese firm, says it is ready for a resolution of its dispute with Nigeria.
A Paris court recently ordered the seizure of Nigeria’s
assets — including three aircraft — over the contract dispute.
The court ruled that the Chinese firm should use Nigeria’s
jets at the Paris-Le Bourget and Basel-Mulhouse international airports “as
security for its claim of EUR 74,459,221”.
BACKGROUND
In 2010, Zhongshan, through Zhuhai Zhongfu Industrial Group
Co. Ltd. (Zhuhai), its Chinese parent company, acquired rights to develop a
free trade zone in Ogun state.
A year later, Zhongshan set up Zhongfu International
Investment (NIG) FZE (Zhongfu), a Nigerian entity, to manage the project with
the permission of the Ogun state government.
However, things took a different turn in July 2016 when the
investor accused the state government of abruptly moving to terminate its
appointment while attempting to install a new manager for the free trade zone.
Subsequently, Zhongfu initiated an investment treaty
arbitration against Nigeria under the bilateral investment treaty between the
People’s Republic of China and Nigeria (the China-Nigeria BIT).
The arbitrators had ruled that Nigeria was in breach of its
obligations under the China-Nigeria BIT and awarded Zhongshan a compensation of
around $70 million.
In January 2022, the Chinese company initiated a case to
seek enforcement of the arbitration award.
Nigeria pleaded state immunity but was turned away by Sara
Cockerill, a high court judge in the UK, who said the country abused the time
frame for appealing arbitral awards.
On August 9, a US appellant court affirmed the judgment of
the US district court for the District of Columbia, that held that the
arbitration award is enforceable.
The court rejected Nigeria’s sovereign immunity defence.
‘READY TO SETTLE THIS
CASE’
On Thursday, the presidency accused the Chinese firm of
deploying “unorthodox and subterfuge” means in a bid to seize the assets.
Refuting the allegations in a statement sent to Premium
Times, Zhongshan said it has only ever sought to assert its rights under
international law and is confident in its case.
“The independent arbitral panel was found unanimously in its
favour, and courts in multiple countries have upheld the view that the panel’s
compensation should be enforced. The French court was fully aware of the facts
when it reached its decision,” the firm said.
“Far from being just
a fence, the Ogun Free Trade Zone was featured as a significant international
investment by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
“Zhongshan has for a long time been ready to enter serious
negotiations with the federal government of Nigeria to settle this case and
still awaits an indication that the government is equally willing.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com