Seized jets and the price of poor governance

Not many in Nigeria – a country where millions now go to bed hungry and angry – would care about the seizure of three presidential jets belonging to the country, including, it was gathered, a new one purchased by President Bola Tinubu despite spirited opposition from the masses, who argued that there were more pressing issues than a jet for the president, who already has a private jet, in a country with, at least, five already existing presidential jets.

But Nigeria is not a country, where the opinions of the masses matter, neither does their welfare. It’s a country, where those in government are a special breed; some kind of higher humans, whose interests and insatiable desire for the good life must be met, no matter how dire the economic crisis. So, it’s hardly surprising that, while food inflation is in excess of 40 percent, and cost of living in general has risen to unprecedented highs, President Tinubu’s real concern is how to get one more presidential jet, presidential yatch, one big house for the vice president – who by the way, was not homeless – more SUVs for legislators, and so on so forth.

So, if not for the very embarrassing seizure of ‘Nigeria’s presidential jets’ by a Chinese firm, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co Limited, after it obtained an order from a French court, not many would have known that despite their protestations, the presidency, which asks them to go to bed hungry and hope for a better tomorrow, had gone ahead to acquire another jet.

But beyond the odour of the mindlessly ostentatious lifestyle of Nigeria’s political elites, the jet seizure, like the P&ID scandal before it, further exposes the absolute lack of rigour that characterizes governance in Nigeria. It is understood, and as Ibikunle Amosun, former Ogun State governor, whose administration in 2016, terminated the contract that has brought the mess, explained, the Chinese company in question, Zhongshan, is a questionable entity, which should not be accorded any courtesy.

But the question is, how come Amosun failed to do basic research on the company before signing an agreement of that magnitude? He does not deny signing the agreement, but argues that it became necessary to terminate it, because he later discovered that the company was “fraudulent.” But an agreement is an agreement. He failed to do due diligence, simple.

Amosun, who governed Ogun between 2011 and 2019, explained in a statement on Saturday that his government acted due to a dispute between two Chinese firms – Zhongfu International Investment FXE and China Africa Investment FXE, over control of the state’s free trade zone, which over time, worsened and threatened public peace and safety within the zone and neighbouring communities.

“There were claims and counter claims as to who between the two was the lawful representative of the original joint venturer, Guangdong Province, China and consequentially, who had the right to manage the Zone,” he said, which then made him to appoint Zhongfu International as Interim Zone Managers based on damaging information it gave about China Africa Investment FXE.

“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,” Amosun 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,” he stated.

Amosun said his government later discovered “that the information and claims by Zhongfu International Investment FXE against China Africa Investment FXE were tissues of lies.”

“Unknown to 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.

According to the former governor, the Chinese government, through its Diplomatic Note 1601 dated 11 March 2016, clarified to the Ogun State Government that China Africa Investment FXE was the rightful investor.

He further explained that after due consultation with the State Security Services and the supervising agency, NEPZA, the Ogun government served Zhongfu International with a formal termination notice dated 27 May 2016, adding that the termination of Zhongfu International’s contract as the Interim Zone Managers of the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone (OGFTZ) led to a series of litigations and petitions.

“We successfully defended our actions at all levels before these organs of government, and they all agreed with our position. Shortly after, our administration left office in May 2019,” Amosun stated.

He urged the federal government not to give in to the demands of Zhongfu International, adding that “it is concerning that a purely business dispute between two Chinese nationals and corporations have now degenerated into an unlawful attempt to appropriate Nigeria’s sovereign assets.”

Fair enough, if indeed Zhongfu International is fraudulent entity, it is important for the Nigerian government to stands its ground and ensure that such entity doesn’t take advantage of the country. But the important question is, why did the Amosun administration fail to do due diligence before signing a contract with the company?

Indeed, things got more interesting at the weekend when Professor Pat Utomi narrated his own experience in the hands of the Amosun administration, disclosing that himself and South African investors faced similar arbitrary contract breach.

It is not enough to say you found out that the company is not sincere and, therefore, you terminated the contract. That’s the kind of procedural abuse you can only get away with in Nigeria, where the legal process is weak. Amosun and other public office holders in Nigeria must understand that contractual agreements are not what you tear up at will. Perhaps, if they do, they would ensure they do due diligence before entering into such agreements in the future.

The Chinese firm, meanwhile, has agreed to release one of the jets, which perhaps suggests that it is willing to be considerate. But, nonetheless, based on the court order, it is still holding on to the other two as well as some other Nigerian properties it secured through another British court order based on the same matter.

Hopefully, the country will wriggle out of the embarrassing situation. But it’s important that public officials take responsibility for their bad behaviours.