Nigeria’s Guest Houses, Liverpool

A Chinese investment group is preparing to sell two residential properties in Liverpool, UK, confiscated from Nigeria to recover up to $70million in arbitration awards.

Zhongshang Fucheng Industrial Investment Ltd seized the buildings after Nigeria failed to settle a 2021 arbitration judgement, Peoples Gazette reports.

The properties, located at 15 Aigburth Hall Roadand Beech Lodge, 49 Calderstones Road, were taken by Zhongshang in June 2024.

This action followed a December 2021 British court order permitting the company to seize Nigerian assets in the UK, as the $70 million payment remains outstanding, with a two per cent monthly interest accruing.

Zhongshang was awarded $55,675,000 in compensation, plus $9,400,000 in interest and £2,864,445 in costs as of March 26, 2021, due to a dispute involving Ogun State. The company alleged that Ogun State violated a 2001 trade treaty by rescinding its rights to a free trade zone in 2016.

The firm took Nigeria to arbitration in the UK in 2018, claiming that federal bodies like the police and immigration were used by Ogun State against them without due process.

Two Zhongshang executives were expelled from Nigeria in 2016, with one allegedly detained and tortured by the police.

This case adds to Nigeria’s legal troubles, following a near $11 billion arbitration decision against the country in favour of P&ID, which was later overturned due to corruption.

However, Zhongshang’s case appears more challenging, with several European courts, including in the UK and Belgium, granting enforcement orders against Nigeria.

Recently, an appellate panel in the U.S. denied Nigeria sovereign immunity over Zhongshang’s recovery efforts.

A consultant with Zhongshang revealed plans to list the Liverpool properties for sale, including on eBay, where the asking price could reach up to $2.2 million for both.

“They said the value of both properties should be around $2.2 million, so they already put together a plan to sell them to willing buyers,” the consultant said under anonymity to discuss client deliberations.

“Some websites like eBay might bring buyers faster than other methods.”

Even though the properties belonged to Nigeria, they were seized because they weren’t listed as Nigerian diplomatic or consular assets.

The Gazette learnt that those currently occupying the properties had no ties to the Nigerian mission in the UK. It was unclear when Nigeria bought the assets, but a senior judge said its officials had regularly rented out both places to guests.

In her June 14, 2024, ruling allowing Zhongshang to seize the buildings from Nigeria, Master Lisa Sullivan of the UK High Court, King’s Bench Division, said: “The properties are currently used for the purpose of leases to residential tenants unconnected with Nigeria and its mission. Those are commercial purposes for the purpose of s13(4) of the SIA and therefore the enforcement against the properties is not barred by state immunity.”

The source said the sale wouldn’t be done in secret because the Nigerian people deserved to know how much all recovered assets were being sold until the full amount had been recovered.

“Zhongshang promised to be transparent with the sale because of the keen public interest of Nigerians in the matter,” the consultant added.

SaharaReporters had recently reported how same Chinese company, Zhongshan, successfully petitioned for the seizure of three Nigerian presidential jets.

The company’s export processing zone management contract was terminated by the Ogun State government in 2016.

The seized jets, which are part of Nigeria’s presidential air fleet, are a Dassault Falcon 7X at Le Bourget airport in Paris, a Boeing 737 and an Airbus 330 at Basel-Mulhouse airport in Switzerland, which was recently received.

The seizure is a result of the contractual dispute between Zhongshan and the Ogun State government.

A French court had authorised the seizure of the three presidential jets due to the ongoing dispute between Zhongshan, a Chinese company, and the Ogun State government.

The seizure is a result of the government’s failure to honour a $74.5 million award granted to Zhongshan by an independent arbitral tribunal, chaired by the former President of the UK Supreme Court.

Despite the federal government’s efforts to resolve the issue amicably, the Ogun State government has yet to comply with the award.

The court order restricts the movement, sale, or purchase of the jets until Zhongshan receives the awarded amount, leaving the Nigerian government facing consequences for the actions of its subnational entity.

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