By: Odeh Favour
The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has criticised the Federal Government following a recent investment climate report issued by the United States Government cautioning prospective investors about risks in Nigeria.
Taking to his official X handle, the former Governor of Anambra State titled his intervention, “Scaring Investors While Celebrating Macroeconomic Stability!”
Obi asserted that the advisory issued by the US Department of State confirms widespread criticisms regarding the incompetence, inefficiency, and corruption within the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.
“As the APC-led government continue in their delusional celebration of Nigeria’s macroeconomic stability, the warning from the United States Government to prospective investors on inherent risks in Nigeria, further affirms the general and correct assessment that President Bola Tinubu-led government is incompetent, ineffective and corrupt,” Obi wrote on X.
He highlighted that the 2026 Nigeria Investment Climate Statement published by the US Department of State clearly identified several critical bottlenecks undermining investor confidence across the country.
“In the 2026 Nigeria Investment Climate Statement, the U.S. Department of State clearly flagged corruption, insecurity, inconsistent regulatory enforcement and weaknesses in the judicial system, cargo delays and power sector challenges as key factors undermining investor confidence in Nigeria,” he noted.
The NDC presidential candidate further cited the report’s explicit warnings regarding state coercion and arbitrary enforcement against foreign businesses.
“The report went further to caution investors of the possible use of arbitrary detention, travel restriction and immigration enforcement to coerce foreign businesses in Nigeria,” he said.
Directly quoting the US State Department report, Obi pointed out: “As the report unambiguously stated: “U.S. businesses are advised that standard business trips can escalate into detention if the firm is under regulatory suspicion or faces charges by Nigerian authorities. Nigeria has previously employed coercive exit bans and arbitrary detention as leverage in commercial or regulatory disputes, and to extract data or financial concessions from multinational firms. Port inefficiency remains a significant “hidden tax” on investment. While the Lekki Deep Seaport, which opened in 2023, significantly eased pressure in 2025 — handling $9.6 billion in trade and operating at 50 percent capacity traditional ports in Apapa and Tin Can still suffer from cargo dwell times exceeding 20 days due to manual examinations.”
Expressing disappointment at the presidency’s handling of the development, Obi stated that an attentive government would have taken immediate corrective measures rather than downplaying the report.
“In a nation with an effective, competent and attentive government, this kind of adverse report would have elicited immediate intervention by the President and Commander in Chief ordering prompt investigation, follow-up and effective action to ensure that our most endowed Nigeria is not perceived negatively by one of our key trading partners, friendly nations and expectedly the global economy.
This is even more important given our desperation for Foreign Direct Investment,” he added.
He lamented that the current administration lacks the capacity to resolve the systemic issues raised in the report because it is responsible for creating them.
“Unfortunately, our incompetent APC- led government cannot give what they don’t have as they are the real perpetrators of the issues raised by the U.S. Government,” he stated.
To back his assertion regarding the drop in investor sentiment, Obi cited figures on capital importation into the country for the first quarter of 2026.
“This explains why Nigeria is unable to attract Foreign Direct Investment commensurate with our market size and potential. Of the $10.37 billion in total capital importation in the first quarter of 2026, only $135.08 million (about 1.3% of the total inflows) was Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), while about $9.86 billion (about 95.1% of the total inflows) went into Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) with loans and other capital streams accounting for the remaining,” Obi disclosed.
Concluding his statement on X, Obi described the administration’s claims of economic victory amidst foreign capital flight as paradoxical and disgraceful.
“It is paradoxical that while the Tinubu administration is celebrating macroeconomic stability, it is unwittingly scaring away foreign investors. What a shame. A New and Productive Nigeria is POssible and Nigeria will be OK. -PO,” he concluded.
