A Chinese firm, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, at the centre of a legal tussle with Nigeria over some contractual agreement has released one of the presidential jets seized on its behalf by a French court.
In a statement on Friday, the firm said it took the decision to release the jet, an A330 Airbus, as a “gesture of goodwill” to allow for talks.
Specifically, the company said it lifted the seizure of the Nigerian presidential Airbus A330 to show that it had “consistently sought to act reasonably and fairly in the course of a legal dispute” that was not of its making.
These were revealed in a report by Reuters on Friday.
The dispute, Reuter recalls, stems from a 2007 contract between Zhongshan and Nigeria’s southwestern Ogun state to develop a free trade zone, which was terminated in 2015 because the company had – according to the Nigerian government – done no more than erect a perimeter fence on the land earmarked for the free trade zone.
“Zhongshan remains committed to talks with representatives of the Federal Government of Nigeria, this time serious and substantive on both sides, with a view to reaching a reasonable compromise settlement rapidly,” the company said in the statement.
Zhongshan obtained two orders from a French court in March and August to seize Nigerian assets following an arbitration award of more than $60 million.
On Thursday, the Nigerian government accused the Chinese firm of mounting a campaign to fraudulently seize its assets overseas, including presidential jets undergoing maintenance in France, due to the dispute.
