Why Judgment Seizing Nigeria's Aircraft Will Be Vacated Soon – Insights from Prince Adewole Adebayo

The Social Democratic Party, SDP, candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has taken a positive view of the recent judgment by a Chinese company to seize Nigeria's presidential aircraft. The gubernatorial aspirant, who spoke with Saturday Vanguard, described the judgment as a temporary setback, insisting that such judgment will be vacated during the upcoming hearings.

Adebayo believes the court will vacate the seizure once Nigeria makes a case in court and also identifies the aircraft in question as diplomatic assets. No entity, he holds, should be allowed to attach assets, funds, or property of a sovereign nation on grounds of contractual disputes.

The controversy, according to Adebayo, arose from a complex situation between the Chinese firm and the Government of Ogun State. From initial partners, he said, the two parties found themselves in court over the matter, which snowballed into the current legal tussles. He observes that this kind of situation usually occurs whenever an incumbent governor's term expires, and the new administration may not be quite conversant with the importance of existing contracts, thereby precipitating rows.

He explains that, in dealing with foreign investors, contracts are not just any commercial contract; they are, at times, treated as a matter of a treaty. In the case of dispute between the government and the investors, the legal remedies would be either domestic litigation, arbitration, or even state treaty arbitration.

Adebayo's insight underlines how intricate international business agreements and their attendant legal frameworks for the resolution of disputes really are. As things unfold, the need for Nigeria to handle the situation to its best ability is very important to protect diplomatic and economic interests.