Former Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has broken his silence following the seizure of three Nigerian presidential jets by a French court.
Amosun, on Saturday, revealed that he was misled into transferring control of a free trade facility in Ogun State to a Chinese investment group, complicating an ongoing legal battle that risks further depletion of Nigeria’s assets abroad.
In a personally signed statement, Amosun, who served as governor from 2011 to 2019, admitted that he failed to conduct even a basic review of the facts before handing over the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone to a Chinese team in 2012.
This decision, according to him, initiated a lengthy legal dispute that has recently led disgruntled Chinese investors to target Nigeria’s assets in Europe and the United States.
The free trade zone, established in 2007 under then-Governor Gbenga Daniel in partnership with Guangdong Xinguang International China Africa Investment Ltd (known as China Africa), was designed to facilitate smooth trade between Nigeria and China in Igbesa, Ogun State.
China Africa, which held a 60 percent stake, was developing the 10,000-hectare facility when, in 2012, a year after Amosun took office, a firm called Zhongfu International Investment Ltd intervened. Claiming mismanagement, Zhongfu sought to take over the zone’s administration.
Amosun stated that he allowed Zhongfu to assume interim management of the trade zone without first investigating their claims, a decision he now acknowledges as a mistake.
“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 stated.
