FORMER OGUN GOVERNOR, AMOSUN, ADMITS TO MISTAKENLY SIGNING AWAY MULTIBILLION-NAIRA TRADE ZONE TO DUBIOUS CHINESE INVESTORS
Former Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has broken his silence on the controversy surrounding the Ogun-Guandong Free Trade Zone, admitting that he mistakenly handed over the facility to dubious Chinese investors in 2012.
Amosun, who governed the state from 2011 to 2019, revealed that he didn’t do even a cursory assessment of facts before asking a Chinese team to take over the Ogun-Guandong Free Trade Zone. His decision marked the onset of a protracted legal crisis that led to aggrieved Chinese investors’ recent targeting of Nigeria’s assets in Europe and the United States.
The free trade zone was conceived in 2007 between Ogun State under Governor Gbenga Daniel and Guangdong Xinguang International China Africa Investment Ltd (or China Africa) to facilitate seamless trade between Nigeria and China in Igbesa, Ogun State. China Africa, the major investor with a 60% stake, was developing the 10,000 hectares facility when, in 2012, another firm that identified itself as Zhongfu International Investment Ltd came in with tales about how the place was being poorly administered.
Zhongfu investors sought to manage the trade zone, and Amosun subsequently asked them to take over as interim managers before his administration could find time to investigate the allegations. “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’s admission comes after a French court seized three Nigerian presidential jets in a legal battle related to the trade zone controversy. The former governor’s decision has led to a protracted legal crisis, resulting in aggrieved Chinese investors targeting Nigeria’s assets abroad.
