Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, has criticised the federal government over the sharp drop in Nigeria’s foreign direct investment (FDI).
In a post on X on Friday, Obi said no amount of overseas trips will attract investors without good governance at home.
His comments come after President Bola announced a two-nation trip to Japan and Brazil.
Obi accused Tinubu and top officials of “global gallivanting” while the country’s investment climate worsens.
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“While the president, ministers, and other officials continue their global galivanting in search of FDI, our poor performance in key governance indicators — rule of law, regulatory quality, government effectiveness, and voice and accountability — proves you cannot attract sustainable foreign investment with poor leadership and governance,” Obi posted.
Quoting data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Obi said FDI fell by 70 percent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025 to $126.29 million, down from $421.8 million in Q4 2024.
“Of the total capital importation of about $5.64 billion in the first quarter of 2025, FDI accounted for only about 2.24%, compared to 8.2% in Q4 2024,” he said.
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“Disturbingly, about 90% of the imported capital went into speculative money market instruments. With such a high proportion of capital importation flowing into speculative investments, the impact on industrial growth or job creation is highly insignificant and elusive, given the ease with which such “hot money” can exit the economy.”
According to the politician, “sustainable economic growth and development cannot be achieved through poor leadership and weak governance — problems clearly reflected in declining FDI and our poor performance in key governance indicators”.
“To further illustrate our precarious situation, capital flows to the manufacturing sector declined exponentially by 32.1%, dropping to only $129.92 million in Q1 2025 from $191.92 million in the same quarter of 2023,” he said.
‘REFORMS REMAIN UNCOORDINATED, REACTIVE’
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The former Anambra governor said “there is no better confirmation of the lack of trust in this government, whose reforms remain uncoordinated and largely reactive”.
Obi contrasted Nigeria’s performance with other African countries, citing a United Nations report which showed that Africa’s total FDI rose by about 75 percent to $97 billion in 2024.
“Egypt attracted the highest share in Africa, with $46.58 billion. Other top recipients included Ethiopia ($3.98 billion), Côte d’Ivoire ($3.80 billion), Mozambique ($3.55 billion), Uganda ($3.30 billion), Democratic Republic of Congo ($3.11 billion), South Africa ($2.47 billion), Namibia ($2.06 billion), Senegal ($2.02 billion), Guinea ($1.83 billion), and Morocco ($1.64 billion),” he said.
“Most disappointingly, our dear nation, Nigeria—the so-called “Giant of Africa”—received only $1.08 billion, about 1% of Africa’s total FDI, representing a decline of about 42% from 2023.
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“Worse still, after this 42% drop between 2023 and 2024, FDI to Nigeria has further declined by 75% between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025.”
Obi said Nigeria “cannot achieve sustainable growth and development with ineffective leadership and weak government”.
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