Former Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has expressed deep concern over the ongoing controversy surrounding the seizure of Nigerian presidential jets involving the Chinese-owned firm, Zhongfu International Investment FXE, and the Ogun State Government. In a detailed statement, Amosun addressed the historical context of the dispute and called for a firm, uncompromising response similar to Nigeria\u2019s handling of the P&ID case.<\/p>\n
Amosun began by acknowledging the extensive media coverage of the situation and expressed alignment with the official responses from both the Ogun State and Federal Governments. He emphasized that governance is a continuum, and the events leading to the current crisis occurred before, during, and after his administration.<\/p>\n
The conflict dates back to shortly after Amosun assumed office on May 29, 2011, when two Chinese companies, China Africa Investment FXE and Zhongfu International Investment FXE, each claimed management rights over the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone (OGFTZ). The rivalry between these entities escalated quickly, disrupting business activities and threatening public safety in the Zone and surrounding communities.<\/p>\n
Amosun recounted how Zhongfu International Investment FXE, initially posing as a concerned tenant, provided what turned out to be false information about China Africa Investment FXE, the official representative of Guangdong Province and the rightful manager of the Zone. Acting on the information available at the time, the Ogun State Government appointed Zhongfu as the interim Zone Manager on March 15, 2012, to prevent further deterioration of the situation.<\/p>\n
However, it was later discovered, through Diplomatic Note 1601 from the Chinese government on March 11, 2016, that Zhongfu\u2019s claims were baseless and deceitful. The note clarified that China Africa Investment FXE was the legitimate investor and rightful manager of the Zone. Consequently, Amosun\u2019s administration took steps to rectify the situation, including serving Zhongfu with a formal Termination Notice on May 27, 2016.<\/p>\n
Amosun highlighted that despite losing several legal battles in Nigerian courts, Zhongfu persisted in its claims, taking its case to various authorities in Abuja, including the Presidency, the Ministry of Trade and Investment, and the National Assembly. He underscored that his administration successfully defended its actions at all levels, and all relevant government organs supported their position.<\/p>\n
The former governor stressed that the original agreement established in 2007, prior to his administration, remains in effect, and there was no need for renegotiation during his tenure. He also refuted allegations that his administration used security forces to harass or intimidate any party involved in the dispute, suggesting that any such incidents were likely the result of the rivalry between the disputing Chinese firms.<\/p>\n
Amosun called on the Nigerian government to take a firm stance against Zhongfu International Investment FXE, warning that any concession would amount to endorsing an unlawful entity seeking to appropriate Nigeria\u2019s sovereign assets. He urged the government to treat the Zhongfu case with the same rigor and resolve as the P&ID case, insisting that there is no basis for negotiation.<\/p>\n
Amosun pledged his full cooperation with government agencies to prevent Nigeria from being scammed by Zhongfu or any other entity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has expressed deep concern over the ongoing controversy surrounding the seizure of Nigerian presidential jets involving the Chinese-owned firm, Zhongfu International Investment FXE, and the Ogun State Government. In a detailed statement, Amosun addressed the historical context of the dispute and called for a firm, uncompromising response similar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43901"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44174,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43901\/revisions\/44174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}