The Federal Government has announced that it is working to solve the problem with the seized aircraft. They blame the issue on how lower levels of government handled international matters poorly.
On Friday, Yusuf Tuggar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, told reporters in Malabo, the capital city of Equatorial Guinea, that the federal government is actively working to fix the situation.
The trouble began when Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, a company from China, got a court order in Paris to take Nigeria’s presidential plane. The plane was in France for maintenance.
This legal action followed a failed agreement with the Ogun State Government and is part of an attempt to seize Nigerian assets in eight countries, including the UK and the USA, due to ongoing legal issues.
Tuggar explained that his ministry is collaborating with the Attorney-General to handle the situation both diplomatically and legally. He said they would provide updates when necessary and that discussions are still in progress to resolve the conflict.
He stressed the need for such agreements to be registered with the proper authorities to prevent future problems.
Tuggar added, “This situation highlights a problem when state governments make international agreements without involving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the federal government. When these agreements go wrong, we are left to deal with the fallout.
“It is crucial that these arrangements be reported to the embassy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the federal government. The agreement in question was made by Ogun State under a previous administration, not the current governor, and we were unaware of it until now. All we know is that they are targeting Nigerian assets.”
