Hear him, “At different levels, government is a continuum and the various segments of events leading to this unfortunate situation occurred before, during and after our administration.
“Our administration assumed office on May 29, 2011. Very shortly after we took office, two different sets of Chinese companies, Messrs China Africa Investment FXE and Zhongfu International Investment FXE laid claims to management rights over the Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone.
“The business dispute and rivalry between the Chinese concerns soon became fierce, grounded seamless business activities and threatened public peace and safety within the zone and neighboring communities.
“There were claims and counter-claims as to who between the two was the lawful representative of the original joint venturer, Guangdong Province, China, and consequentially who had the right to manage the zone.
“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.”
Senator Amosun revealed that on March 15, 2012, the state government temporarily appointed Zhongfu as the zone manager to prevent unauthorized developments while a thorough investigation was conducted. However, it was later uncovered that Zhongfu’s allegations against China Africa were entirely fabricated. The former governor alleged that Zhongfu’s true intentions were to discredit China Africa and illegitimately acquire state-owned assets from Guangdong Province in China. Following a diplomatic note from the Chinese Government on March 11, 2016, the state government confirmed that China Africa was, in fact, the legitimate investor.
