Investors Won’t Come to Nigeria Unless Security Improves—CNPP

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

President Bola Tinubu has been charged to decisively tackle insecurity in the country if he wants most foreign investors he has been meeting from his trips outside the country to invest their funds in Nigeria.

This advice was given by the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), which said in a statement that the decline in foreign direct investments (FDIs) would continue to shrink until “the government tackles insecurity and improves in the area of institutionalising the rule of law.”

In a statement issued by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr James Ezema, in reaction to Mr Tinubu’s New Year’s Day message to the nation, the group said, “It is obvious that investment tops the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s agenda but will be very difficult to achieve in the obvious absence of security and rule of law.”

“Though President Tinubu affirmed that on every foreign trip, he has embarked on, his message to investors and other business people has been that Nigeria is ready and open for business,” it is not enough.

“For the Tinubu administration to succeed, the government and its officials should stop praise-singing and celebration of its achievements. Nigerians can differentiate between a government that is working for them and the one that is not.

“It’s time to deal with insecurity and end the killing of the innocent in the country. That is the primary purpose of government; to protect the lives and property of the citizens.

“Secondly, upholding the rule of law is an important factor if Nigeria must attract key Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as no investor will invest in a society where the government does not obey court judgments or where court orders can be procured at the black markets.

“This explains why the recent capital importation data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the total FDI that came into Nigeria in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023 was only $48 million and compared to the previous quarter, the FDI inflow to the country experienced a decline, dropping from $84 million in Q4 2022 to $48 million in Q1 2023, which is about 43%. But on a year-on-year comparison, there was a substantial 69% decrease, as FDI fell from $155 million in Q1 2022 to $48 million in Q1 2023.

“The CNPP therefore encourages the President Tinubu administration to do more in practice than talks as the country’s FDI won’t increase in the absence of security and rule of law,” the statement said.