French court seizes 3 Nigerian presidential jets over dispute with Chinese firm

A French court has seized three presidential jets linked to the Federal Government of Nigeria as part of a legal battle involving Zhongshan, a Chinese company.

The company had a business dispute with the Ogun State government, which led to this significant legal action, sources familiar with the matter have told Premium Times.

The three seized jets include a Dassault Falcon 7X at Le Bourget airport in Paris, a Boeing 737, and an Airbus 330 located at Basel-Mulhouse airport in Switzerland.

All three aircraft are part of Nigeria’s presidential air fleet and are currently undergoing maintenance.

Two of the jets were recently put up for sale, while the Airbus 330 was purchased by Nigeria but had not yet been delivered. The Nigerian government reportedly paid over $100 million for the Airbus.

The seizure stems from a 2016 decision by the Ogun State government to revoke Zhongshan’s export processing zone management contract.

Following this revocation, an independent arbitral tribunal, chaired by a former UK Supreme Court President, awarded Zhongshan $74.5 million in compensation.

However, the Ogun State government has yet to honor the award, leading Zhongshan to seek enforcement against Nigerian assets abroad.