The Federal Government says legal and diplomatic efforts are ongoing to recover some seized presidential jets.
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, stated this in a statement on Thursday through his spokesman, Kamarudeen Ogundele.
The AGF described as inappropriate, court orders against three presidential aircraft undergoing routine maintenance in France.
He said that the Federal Government became aware of the interim attachment of the aircraft on Wednesday, August 14, 2024.
The said temporary attachment, according to the statement, was made under ex parte orders issued by the Judicial Court of Paris at the instance of Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, a Chinese company seeking to enforce a final award granted in its favour against one of Nigeria’s sub-nationals, Ogun State.
“It is to be noted 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.
“We wish to clarify that, though the dispute originated from engagements of Ogun State Government, however, the consequential enforcement actions are being directed against the Federal Government and its assets in line with extant principles of international law which holds that the actions of a subnational or local entity are attributable to the State or country itself,” the AGF stated.
The Federal Government said that while further actions are being put in place to resolve the entire dispute through available legal means, its firm position remained that the aircraft in question are sovereign assets used solely for sovereign purposes and are therefore immune from attachment as Zhongshan has sought to do.
Seizure if the Presidential jets ,an international disgrace- Obi
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has described the report of the seizure of three presidential jets in France as another embarrassment which exposed failed leadership in Nigeria.
A French court ordered the seizure of the jets following a contract dispute between Ogun State and a Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited.
The Federal Government has, however, stated that it has set in motion both legal and diplomatic steps to ensure the discharge of the “inappropriate orders” against the jets, which it declared are covered by sovereign immunity.
