The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described as a national embarrassment and shame, Nigeria’s outing at the recently concluded 7th Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development in Japan.
The party noted that while other African countries were signing investment agreements with multinational companies, President Muhammadu Buhari was busy celebrating a mere pledge of $300,000 (about N108 million) from the Japanese Prime Minister and a promissory note for 50 million euros from an EU Commissioner.
The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said that the conference has shown that no world leader or international investor wants to do any real business with Nigeria under President Buhari, “mainly because of the legitimacy burden of his presidency, arising from the rigging of the February 23 presidential election, as well as overt impunity, corruption, treasury looting and recklessness that pervade his administration.”
The party observed that while President Buhari was celebrating a mere $300, 000 investment, his Ghanaian counterpart, Nana Akufo-Ado, had sealed a deal with automobile giant, Toyota, to immediately establish a Toyota and Suzuki manufacturing plant in Ghana with a determined timeline of August 2020 for production.
“The multinational had also signed a deal to establish a similar plant in neighbouring Ivory Coast with a Memorandum of Understanding to that effect already signed last Thursday.
“It is instructive to note that Toyota announced that it preferred to cite the plant in Ghana because of the favourable economic climate prevailing in the country; a climate, which has taken flight from Nigeria under President Buhari and worsened since the rigging of the presidential election.”