- In a statement issued on Sunday by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, Atiku said the road project is one of the major reasons behind Nigeria’s continuous failure to attract foreign direct investment.
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, says the Nigerian government is blocking the country from getting the foreign direct investments it urgently needs.
This is as he said the actions and decisions of the president Bola Tinubu administration, especially on the Lagos-Calabar road, do not inspire confidence in investors.
He also decried the lack of proper notification as regards the demolition of properties in the Oniru corridor, including parts of Lagos State’s landmark, as well as tourist and recreational attractions, in order to make way for the Coastal Highway.
In a statement issued on Sunday by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, Atiku said the road project is one of the major reasons behind Nigeria’s continuous failure to attract foreign direct investment.
He said “Atiku said the demolition of tourist and recreational facilities and other properties within the Oniru corridor, including parts of Landmark, without ample notice, is one of the reasons foreign direct investments continue to elude the country.
“Rather than improving the ease of doing business, the Tinubu administration had shown to the world that his personal business interest and that of his family would always be prioritized over and above national interest.”
Atiku noted that investors observe the treatment of local businesses and would avoid regions where their investments lack protection.
The former PDP presidential candidate further stated that “Tinubu has been globetrotting in search of foreign direct investments. He claims to have secured over $30 billion from various companies, but none has been forthcoming. Rather, all manufacturing firms have been posting heavy losses while some are exiting due to his poorly implemented exchange rate unification policy with even Aliko Dangote describing it as a huge mess at the recent annual general meeting of Dangote Sugar Refinery.
“The IMF in its latest report stated that Nigeria will by the end of the year become the 4th largest economy in Africa behind South Africa, Egypt and Algeria, a disgraceful development for a nation which was the largest in Africa by a mile when the PDP left the stage in 2015.
“Investors are seeing how local businesses are being treated and will not come to a place where their investments will not be protected. In saner climes, businesses such as Landmark would have been given at least two years’ notice for effective planning. But Tinubu’s eagerness to satisfy his business partners impaired his ability to coordinate the project properly”