France orders seizure of Nigerian presidential jets over dispute with Chinese company

A French court ordered the seizure of three Nigerian presidential jets in an arbitration case filed by a Chinese company alleging a breach of contract by the West African country, the Financial Times said.

The Chinese company, Zhongshan, initiated arbitration proceedings against Nigeria in 2018 accusing the government of failing to uphold its commercial commitments.

A three-person arbitration panel in London awarded the company $70mn in damages to be paid by the Nigerian government in 2021. The award has since grown to about $81mn with interest.

The arbitration panel wrote that: “It is clear that Zhongsan is the effective winner in these arbitral proceedings, in that it has proved its version of events is accurate, it has successfully resisted Nigeria’s jurisdictional and preliminary objections, it has established that it has a valid claim against Nigeria under the Treaty and it has obtained an award for substantial damages.”

A spokesperson for Nigeria’s president said in a statement that Zhongshan had “withheld vital information and misled” the Paris court and that the jets could not be seized because they were protected by “diplomatic immunity”, the Financial Times wrote.