A Chinese investment group, Zhongshang Fucheng Industrial Investment Ltd, has taken possession of two residential properties linked to the Nigerian government in Liverpool, United Kingdom.
The properties, located at 15 Aigburth Hall Road and Beech Lodge, 49 Calderstones Road, were seized in June 2024 following Nigeria's failure to settle an arbitration judgement from 2021.
The arbitration verdict, handed down in March 2021, awarded Zhongshang $55,675,000 plus interest of $9,400,000 and costs of £2,864,445. Despite the judgement, Nigeria had not made the required payments, leading to a British court order in December 2021 that empowered Zhongshang executives to seize Nigerian assets in the UK. As of Wednesday, August 20, the outstanding payment had accrued two per cent monthly interest.
Zhongshang is now racing to recover up to $70million from Nigeria and plans to list the seized properties on the global online marketplace eBay for $2.2million. "They said the value of both properties should be around $2.2million, so they already put together a plan to sell them to willing buyers," a consultant working with Zhongshang disclosed under anonymity.
The case stems from a dispute between Zhongshang and Ogun State, which allegedly violated a 2001 trade treaty by rescinding Zhongshang's rights to a free trade zone in 2016. The company took Nigeria to an arbitration panel in the UK in 2018, accusing the country of deploying federal organs like the police and immigration without due process. Court documents revealed that two Zhongshang executives were expelled from Nigeria in 2016, with one reportedly detained and tortured by the police.
This incident has once again thrown Nigeria into confusion, coming just months after the country narrowly escaped a similar arbitration decision involving over $11billion awarded to a consortium called P&ID.
However, unlike the P&ID case, several European courts have already granted enforcement orders in favour of Zhongshang in the UK, Belgium, France, and other countries, where Nigerian-owned jets and other assets are being tracked down.
Master Lisa Sullivan of the UK High Court, King’s Bench Division, ruled on June 14, 2024, that the properties could be seized because they were used for commercial purposes and not listed as Nigerian diplomatic or consular assets. "The properties are currently used for the purpose of leases to residential tenants unconnected with Nigeria and its mission," she stated.
Zhongshang has promised transparency in the sale process due to the keen public interest in Nigeria. "The Nigerian people deserve to know how much all recovered assets are being sold until the full amount has been recovered," the consultant added.
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