ECONOMY: MP Warns INVESTORS About The Risks Of INVESTING In Buhari’s NIGERIA

👤 By Danjuma Aliyu, DENISAURUS News

A Member of the British Parliament has warned Foreign investors not to invest in Nigeria.

Priti Patel the MP for Witham Constituency and a former secretary of state for International Development in the United Kingdom (UK) says she is “a supporter of economic investment into developing countries,” but she would not advise anyone to invest in the country being led by President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to Mrs Patel, President Buhari a former Military dictator elected as President in 2015 does not respect “international law and convention.”

She said: “Over the last decade, the amount of UK foreign direct investment into Africa has more than doubled from £20.8bn to £42.5bn. This is good news.

“However, as with all investments, investors should know of the corrosive effect of corruption, as well as the lack of transparency and associated difficulties of doing business in certain countries.

“In Nigeria, the unhappy experience of the firm founded by two Irishmen, Process and Industrial Development (P&ID), is a case in point, and demonstrates the risk that businesses will face in Nigeria.

“In 2010, P&ID signed a 20-year contract with the Nigerian government to create a new natural gas development refinery, but the project fell through after the Nigerian government reneged on its contractual commitments. Upon taking office, President Buhari promptly cancelled a compensation settlement, and has done his level best to pretend Nigeria’s obligations to P&ID do not exist.”

The Witham MP also notes that “despite the President’s public anti-corruption platform, Transparency International has not seen any reduction in corruption since Buhari took office. In fact, the precise opposite has happened, with Nigeria falling 12 places between the 2016 and 2017 rankings.”

In an opinion piece published by City A.M, Mrs Patel stated that “President Buhari currently faces serious allegations, which include staging show trials of opponents of a regime that is accused of corruption and graft, while simultaneously shielding his own party members and inner circle.

“We should all welcome international efforts to attract international investment into developing economies. However, to do this successfully Nigeria must seriously tackle corruption, rather than use it as a smokescreen. It must honour its obligations to companies like P&ID. Until then, investors inevitably will be very wary of investing in Nigeria.”