WorldStage Newsonline– Senator Ibikunle Amosun, former governor of Ogun State has explained the reasons why his administration terminated the contractual agreement with Zhongfu International Investment FXE shortly after he assumed office in 2011, saying he discovered that two Chinese firms—China Africa Investment FXE and Zhongfu International Investment FXE were scheming over the management rights of the Ogun Guangdong free trade zone (OGFTZ).
He said investigations later confirmed that Zhongfu International Investment FXE was an impostor and with the current development, the entity should be treated the way Nigeria treated the P&ID case.
Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment had dragged the Nigerian government to court over a failed contract initiated in 2007 during the tenure Gbenga Daniel as the Governor of Ogun State.
The legal battle led to the seizure of three presidential jets undergoing routine maintenance in France. But one of the jets was later released to the Nigerian government.
Amosun who was the governor of Ogun from May 29, 2011, to May 29, 2019 said the tussle between the two companies “grounded seamless business activities and threatened public peace and safety within the zone and neighbouring communities.”
Amosun said at the time there were claims and counterclaims on who was the rightful manager of the free trade zone.
“Zhongfu International Investment FXE, pretending to be a concerned and genuine tenant and zone stakeholder, volunteered very damaging and destructive information about the official representatives of Guangdong Province, the Joint Venturer and lawful Zone Managers, China Africa Investment FXE, and subsequently requested to be appointed as Interim Zone Managers,” the former governor said.
“Based on the information at the disposal of the government at the time, Zhongfu International Investment FXE was on 15/03/2012 appointed as Interim Zone Manager pending further evaluation.
“The whole idea was to ensure that someone was in charge and thereby prevent unwholesome and untoward development in the zone pending the completion of our fact finding exercise.
“It was later discovered that the information and claims volunteered by Zhongfu International Investment FXE against China Africa Investment FXE were tissues of lies.
“Unknown to the Ogun Government at the time, Zhongfu International Investment FXE merely sought to de-market China Africa Investment FXE and to surreptitiously covert the state-owned assets of Guangdong Province in China together with the zone ownership and management rights of their business rival.
“It was further discovered—much later—through the intervention of the Chinese Government via Diplomatic Note 1601, dated 11 March 2016.
“The Government of the People’s Republic of China, via its Diplomatic Note 1601 dated 11th March 2016, clarified to the Ogun State Government that China Africa Investment FXE was the rightful investor.
“After due consultation with the relevant organs of government, we gave effect to the request of the Chinese government.
“We do recall that Zhongfu International Investment FXE approached Nigerian courts in different jurisdictions to ventilate its legal and business rights. They lost all their four cases in court.”
Amosun added that after his administration consulted with the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and the Department of State Services (DSS), a termination notice was served on Zhongfu.
“The agreement that was entered into at the inception of the zone in 2007 with our predecessor is what is still in operation, and there was no need for any negotiation or re-negotiation of any contract when we came in and throughout our eight (8) years tenure.
“It is also not true that our administration sent police or any security agent to harass, intimidate, or beat anyone. If there was any such situation, it must have been from among the disputing rivals in the bid to outdo one another.
“Security agencies can further investigate the allegation and uphold the truth. Nigeria should not give Zhongfu International Investment FXE any listening ear, as doing so would amount to indulging and encouraging an unlawful entity without locus standi to appropriate our common patrimony.
“Stemming from the above, this matter of Zhongfu International Investment FXE should be treated the way Nigeria treated the P&ID case. There is no basis for negotiation,” he stated.
Amosun said the federal government should refrain from negotiating with Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd., a Chinese firm, stressing that the allegations that his administration sent police officers to harass and intimidate the officials of the Chinese firm are not true.
Gbenga Daniel offers to help
Meanwhile, former Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel, has promised to support the Nigerian government in the ongoing legal dispute with a Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Limited, that led to the seizure of some presidential jets.
A statement by the media office of Daniel read partly: “It is also important to note that this is a very sensitive matter involving our collective national assets and Commonwealth, which every patriotic Nigerian should feel concerned about.
“And as a patriotic elder statesman who has had the privilege of serving Ogun State as the Governor, through which he was able to bring about several developmental projects, including the establishment of the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone and others, and through which he has impacted the lives of many citizens, also as a serving senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it is this patriotic path he chooses to thread.”
The statement read further: “Senator Otunba Gbenga Daniel would rather engage in helping Nigeria, through the President and Commander-in-Chief, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to find a diplomatic solution to the issue at hand with available records that could assist the Federal Government in pursuing its course at the arbitration and before the courts.”
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.
The contractual agreement was signed under the administration of Gbenga Daniel, a former governor of Ogun.
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.
The termination of the contract was done by the administration of Amosun.
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 about $70 million.
Recently, a French court ordered the seizure of three presidential jets belonging to the Nigerian government over a contract dispute between the Chinese firm and Ogun state government.
A court of appeal in the United States also ruled that Nigeria’s claim of sovereign immunity cannot stand in a commercial venture.
