Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, has tackled President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over his frequent foreign trips.
Obi made this known on Sunday during an X-space, tagged ‘ParrellelFact’.
According to him, Nigeria must attract foreign investors rather than chase after them.
“Nobody goes around searching for foreign investors. Foreign investors are like bees; when you keep the honey, they will boom towards there. We need to attract foreign investors and not chase after them,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his interview with Nation Newspaper on Sunday upon receiving the Man-of-the-Year award, said the country is engaging with the global market- both foreign and domestic investors.
The President stressed that Foreign Direct Investment is not ‘Chicken Change’ but a long-term financial commitment from serious enterprises and investors.
“FDI is not ‘chicken change’. FDI is substantial, long-term financial commitments made by serious enterprises and investors. Right now, Nigeria is re-engaging with the global market – both foreign and domestic investors.
We are telling the story of our significant and far-reaching reforms and rebuilding confidence in Nigeria as an accessible and safe investment.
“We are clearly communicating that ‘Nigeria is open for business’ and that the direction of travel is clear and fully committed”, he said.
Tinubu noted that the country’s efforts to woo foreign direct investors were yielding fruit.
“We’ve secured a $500 million deal with Germany to fund renewable energy projects, particularly in rural Nigeria”, he stated.
“Our focused efforts to attract European FDI are yielding fruit, notably with the $116 million French investment in the I-DICE program, aimed at creating 65,000 start-ups and 150,000 jobs, particularly empowering women”, President Tinubu added.
DAILY POST reports Tinubu was at COP28 in Dubai, which ended last week.
In September, the President attended the G20 Summit in India, the UN General Assembly in New York, the United States of America and the G20 compact with Africa Conference in Berlin, Germany, and others to “sustain his momentum in advancing the cause of FDI in Nigeria”.
‘Nobody goes around searching for foreign investors’ – Peter Obi tackles President Tinubu