Former Ogun State Governor, Mr. Ibikunle Amosun, has offered his account of the controversial contract with a Chinese firm that has recently drawn significant attention, particularly following the seizure of a Nigerian presidential jet. Mr. Amosun has faced criticism for allegedly being the source of Nigeria’s ongoing confrontation with Chinese investors in international arbitration panels.
On Saturday, Mr. Amosun revealed that he was deceived into handing over the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone to an investment group from China during his tenure.
Mr. Amosun, who served as governor of the southwestern Nigerian state from 2011 to 2019, admitted in a statement personally signed by him that he did not conduct a thorough assessment before inviting a Chinese team to take over the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone in 2012. This decision, he acknowledged, set off a protracted legal battle that has culminated in Chinese investors targeting Nigeria’s assets in Europe and the United States.
The free trade zone was initially conceived in 2007 during the administration of Governor Gbenga Daniel, in collaboration with Guangdong Xinguang International China Africa Investment Ltd (China Africa), to facilitate seamless trade between Nigeria and China in Igbesa, Ogun State. China Africa, the major investor with a 60 percent stake, was developing the 10,000-hectare facility when, in 2012, a year after Mr. Amosun took office, another firm, Zhongfu International Investment Ltd, claimed the zone was being mismanaged and sought to take over its administration.
In his statement, Mr. Amosun explained that he appointed Zhongfu International Investment as the interim manager of the trade zone, pending an investigation into their claims against China and Africa.
“Zhongfu International Investment FXE, pretending to be a concerned and genuine tenant and Zone stakeholder, provided damaging and misleading 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.
“Based on the information available to the government at the time, Zhongfu International Investment FXE was appointed interim zone manager on March 15, 2012, pending further evaluation. The intent was to ensure that someone was in charge to prevent any unwholesome and untoward developments in the zone while our fact-finding exercise was ongoing.
“It was later discovered that the information and claims provided by Zhongfu International Investment FXE against China Africa Investment FXE were entirely fabricated.
“Unknown to the Ogun government at the time, Zhongfu International Investment FXE merely sought to undermine China Africa Investment FXE and covertly take over the state-owned assets of Guangdong Province in China, along with the zone ownership and management rights,” Mr. Amosun stated.
The former governor further disclosed that Chinese authorities intervened directly through several diplomatic communications from their mission in Nigeria.
“It was only much later – through the intervention of the Chinese Government via Diplomatic Note 1601, dated March 11, 2016 – that it became clear that the company I had terminated was the rightful owner of the investment,” Mr. Amosun said.
Following the termination of Zhongfu International Investment, the company pursued legal action in various Nigerian courts but lost all four cases it filed, according to Mr. Amosun, although he did not provide specific details of these cases.
Consequently, Mr. Amosun urged the federal government and Ogun State to continue rejecting any resolutions that might favor Zhongfu.
“Nigeria should not give Zhongfu International Investment FXE any attention, as doing so would amount to indulging and encouraging an unlawful entity without locus standi to appropriate our common patrimony,” Mr. Amosun asserted. “This matter should be treated similarly to how Nigeria handled the P&ID case. There is no basis for negotiation.”
Mr. Amosun’s revelations add a new layer of complexity to the ongoing legal dispute, especially in light of international arbitrators ruling in favor of the Chinese firm and recent authorization of the seizure of Nigeria’s assets abroad. As more details emerge, questions remain about whether this situation truly represents an attempt to bully Nigeria, as the government has suggested.
