The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, announced on Friday that the Federal Government is actively working to resolve a dispute with the Chinese firm Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment, which led to the seizure of three Nigerian government aircraft in France.
On Thursday, the company seized a Dassault Falcon 7X, a Boeing 737-7N6/BBJ, and an Airbus A330-243 belonging to the Federal Government at Paris-Le Bourget and Basel-Mulhouse airports. The seizure was ordered by a Paris judicial court in connection with a contract dispute between the Ogun State government and Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment.
One of the aircraft was released on Friday to allow President Bola Tinubu to use it for an upcoming trip to France, where he is scheduled to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Addressing journalists in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, Tuggar explained that he has already begun discussions with the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, to resolve the issue. Tuggar emphasized the challenges that arise when state governments enter into international agreements without consulting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Federal Government.
“This is part of the problem when sub-national actors like state governments enter into international agreements without involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Federal Government. When these deals go awry, we are left to address the fallout,” Tuggar said.
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He noted that the agreement was made by a previous Ogun State administration and that the current federal authorities were not aware of the details, but are now dealing with the consequences.
He said: “This is part of the problem when sub-national actors like state governments take it upon themselves to go into agreements, go into international arrangements, without recourse to the ministry of foreign affairs, without recourse to the federal government, and then when it goes awry, we are left with the problem to deal with.
“That is why it is always important that such arrangements should be registered with the mission there, with the embassy, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and with the federal government.”
“This is something that Ogun State under a different administration, not this governor, entered into that we’re not aware of. All we know is that they’re going after Nigerian assets.”