Peter Obi: FDI Decline Shows Sign of Uncoordinated Reforms

.ADC to FG: Listen to what Okonjo-Iweala is not saying

Chuks Okocha in Abuja 

For the second time in a row, the former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi has berated President Bola Tinubu foreign trips, describing them as uncoordinated and failed to bring in the desired foreign direct investments into the country.

Also, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised the federal government for ignoring the real message in the recent comments by the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on the state of the Nigerian economy, choosing instead to celebrate the headlines.

Obi had in a statement Thursday by his media aide, Ibrahim Umar, said President’s recent trip overseas makes ”it over 200 days out of 806 days in office,” noting ”the indifference to our problem is worrisome.”

Obi said that President Tinubu left the country Thursday morning on a two-nation tour and a stopover in another city, reminding him that he is not a tourist but the President of a troubled country. 

In the same vein, the former Anambra State governor said, ”While the President, ministers, and other government officials continue their global gallivanting in search of FDI, our poor performance in key governance indicators – such as rule of law, regulatory quality, government effectiveness, and voice and accountability – continues to prove that you cannot attract sustainable foreign investment with poor leadership and governance.”

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last general election said, ”According to a recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics, FDI to Nigeria sharply declined by about 70 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, falling to only $126.29 million from $421.8 million in the last quarter of 2024. Of the total capital importation of about $5.64 billion in the first quarter of 2025, FDI accounted for only about 2.24 per cent, compared to 8.2 per cent in Q4 2024. 

”Disturbingly, about 90 per cent 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,” he stressed.

He further stated, ”Let me reiterate: sustainable economic growth and development cannot be achieved through poor leadership and weak governance—problems that are 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 per cent, dropping to only $129.92 million in Q1 2025 from $191.92 million in the same quarter of 2023. There is no better confirmation of the lack of trust in this government, whose reforms remain uncoordinated and largely reactive.

”In 2024, while global FDI flows declined, FDI to Africa significantly increased to $97 billion—a rise of about 75 per cent compared to 2023. Europe, the United States, and China were the main sources of this FDI. 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).

”Most disappointingly, our dear nation, Nigeria—the so-called “Giant of Africa”—received only $1.08 billion, about 1 per cent of Africa’s total FDI, representing a decline of about 42 per cent from 2023. Worse still, after this 42 per cent drop between 2023 and 2024.

”FDI to Nigeria has further declined by 75 per cent between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025. We cannot achieve sustainable growth and development with ineffective leadership and a weak government,” he explained. 

Meanwhile, ADC said thatgovernment officials and their media surrogates have amplified only one soundbite from  remarks, where Dr. Okonjo-Iweala credited the administration for “stabilising the economy,” while deliberately ignoring her more serious call for urgent measures to grow the economy and establish social safety nets for millions of Nigerian families suffering the negative impacts of the government’s reforms.

In a press statement by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC noted that the effusive celebration of the headlines reflects a government in desperate need of validation, rather than one focused on the job at hand.

The ADC said that Okonjo-Iweala’s recent comments on President Tinubu and the Nigerian economy “have been seized upon by government officials and their media allies as if their scandalous implementation of hard reforms, which have condemned the majority of Nigerians to absolute poverty and destroyed millions of jobs, had received endorsement by the oracle herself. This is not correct.”

Abdullahi said the WTO DG knows that a stable economy is one that is growing in real terms, led by jobs and productivity, adding , ”She knows that a stable economy is one that is able to guarantee minimum standards of living for the people. She knows that economic stability that leaves the majority in grinding poverty is meaningless.

”Therefore, what she’s really saying — which the government has chosen to ignore — is that the economy is not growing, jobs are not being created, and too many people are suffering as a direct consequence of President Tinubu’s ill-conceived and badly implemented reforms. These are the issues she wanted the government to address.

”Like the international stateswoman that she is, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala prefaced her comments with the niceties befitting her stature by commending the administration for “stabilising the economy.” But, having done with that courtesy, she immediately highlighted the urgent need for job creation to bring succour to the ever-growing army of unemployed youths and others who lost their jobs as businesses shut down under the crushing weight of the Tinubu-led government. 

”She said the government needs to urgently grow the economy to put money in people’s pockets — which means that whatever “stable economy” the government is celebrating has not translated into real relief for hundreds of millions of Nigerian families, and they need to change course,” the ADC spokesman said.

He explained further, ”For the record, the economy is not performing in a way that could justify such selective optimism. GDP growth in Q1 2025 was 3.13 per cent, and Q2 registered barely over 3 per cent — a sluggish pace that fails to meet the expectation of broad-based expansion. Forecasts for the year hover between 3.0 percent and 3.4 per cent, far from the robust rebound the administration envisioned.

”Headline inflation remains unyielding, sitting at 22.22 percent as of June, with food inflation at 21.97 percent, meaning that millions of Nigerians are paying more, not less. Petrol prices now average N1,037.66 per litre, still a significant burden on households and small businesses. 

”The naira trades at around N1,530 to the dollar — drastically weaker than President Tinubu’s pre-reform levels of N460 — eroding purchasing power across the board.

”In fact, it is the Tinubu administration’s policy choices — fuel-subsidy removal, naira devaluation, tariff hikes on electricity and transport — that have triggered this distress and made social safety nets not optional but essential. Yet these programs have either been administered haphazardly, suspended, or had negligible impact,” the ADC stressed.

The coalition party said that every well-meaning Nigerian knows that celebrating the mere appearance of “stability” is not only pyrrhic but also dangerous. 

He said, ”This is why, we believe, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala tweeted a clarification this afternoon, noting that Nigerians are experiencing hardship from President Tinubu’s reforms, and that putting in place more programs to help especially the poor and vulnerable manage this hardship is very important.

”She further stressed that “At the same time, it is necessary to start work on growing the economy to create more jobs and put money in people’s pockets.”

He explained that it is in this regard that the ADC strongly believes such candour from a global economic leader like Dr. Okonjo-Iweala underscores the urgent need for federal government policies that go beyond rhetoric and propaganda, but inter address the daily harsh realities of millions of Nigerians under the APC.