The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has called on the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government to start doing more work than talking as far as fixing the country was concerned.
In a statement signed by its national publicity secretary, James Ezemain, in response to Tinubu’s New Year Message, CNPP 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”.
The statement which was obtained by Africa Today News, New York partly reads: “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.
“The Tinubu administration has continued to make promises over the past seven months as if the government is campaigning in an election rather than walking the talk.
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“It is time to deal with insecurity and end the killing of innocents 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 judgements 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 talk, as the country’s FDI won’t increase in the absence of security and rule of law.”