• Says propaganda can’t attract foreign direct investment
• Insists award of coastal road contract to Chagoury constitutes conflict of interest
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has challenged President Bola Tinubu to focus on attracting “real” investors to the country, saying propaganda cannot attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Atiku, in a statement by his media aide, Paul Ibe, yesterday, stated that the alleged membership of President Tinubu’s son on the board of companies owned by
Gilbert Chagoury constitutes a conflict of interest.
The former vice president, citing a report by Paris-based Africa Intelligence News Agency alleged that “Tinubu’s son, Seyi, is a director on the board of CDK Integrated Industries, a subsidiary of the Chagoury Group, which manufactures ceramic tiles and sanitary towels.
“Thanks to quality reporting by Africa Intelligence, our suspicions have been confirmed that Chagoury and Tinubu are indeed business partners and it has been formalised with Seyi on the board of one of Chagoury’s firms.
“It it has become obvious even to the undiscerning that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is being done in a hurry purely because of the business relationship between Tinubu and Gilbert Chagoury, the owner of Hitech, the contractor that was awarded the contract for the highway project in contravention of the procurement laws.
“To add insult to injury, this project that is being done in excess of $13 billion was awarded without a competitive bidding. From all indications, the so-called Badagry-Sokoto highway would be awarded in a similar fashion at an enormous cost to taxpayers purely because Tinubu has put his personal interest ahead of the Nigerian people.”
Atiku added that the demolition of tourist and recreational facilities and other properties within the Oniru corridor, including parts of Landmark, without ample notice, was one of the reasons foreign direct investments continue to elude the country.
“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 in order for effective planning. But Tinubu’s eagerness to satisfy his business partners impaired his ability to coordinate the project properly.
“The awarding of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway was rushed; the environmental impact assessment report was not even completed; the right of way for the 700 km stretch of the highway project was not secured; it was converted from a PPP to a government funded project within the twinkle of an eye. The N500m that was approved by the National Assembly for the project was ignored, while over N1 trillion was released by Tinubu’s administration without approval from the National Assembly.
“From falsely claiming to have removed subsidies to secretly paying billions monthly based on the revelation of Nasir el-Rufai, the Tinubu administration has shown a lack of coordination and transparency, failing to even explain to Nigerians why there is petrol scarcity across the country,” Atiku said.