An appellate court in the United States authorised Zhongshan, a Chinese company, to proceed with its efforts to confiscate Nigeria’s assets abroad after it rejected Nigeria’s sovereign immunity argument.
The decision on August 9, 2024, came after judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Washington found that Nigeria had violated both the fundamental and commercial rights of executives at a Chinese firm that had entered into a trade zone agreement with Nigeria.
The latest development worsens a crisis that the Nigerian government has been attempting to manage in Europe and prevent from spilling to other jurisdictions.
A French court had earlier authorized the seizure of the three presidential jets due to the ongoing dispute between Zhongshan and the Ogun State government.
The Chinese workers of Zhongshan proceeded to the US court to retrieve an outstanding arbitration award for breach of contract after initially winning their case in the United Kingdom in 2021.
They were awarded $55.6 million in compensation from Nigeria and $75,000 in moral damages, along with interest and legal and arbitration fees, court filings said. The UK court said it was satisfied with the evidence submitted by the Chinese before awarding them nearly $60 million.
