ADC has slammed Tinubu’s Administration over Nigeria’s exclusion from U.S.-Africa Economic Talks.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has issued a scathing criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, accusing it of reducing Nigeria from a continental leader to a global afterthought under the rule of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The party expressed deep concern over Nigeria’s exclusion from a high-level U.S. economic engagement scheduled to hold at the White House on Wednesday, involving the Presidents of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal but not Nigeria.
In a statement released Tuesday by Bolaji Abdullahi, ADC’s Interim National Publicity Secretary and spokesperson for the opposition coalition, the party described Nigeria’s absence from the summit as a damning indictment of the current administration’s economic mismanagement, ineffective diplomacy, and failure to assert Nigeria’s global relevance.
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“Only a few years ago, it would have been unthinkable that such a meeting would hold without Nigeria,” the statement read. “But today, the U.S. has chosen to engage other African countries who have shown ‘the ability and willingness to help themselves,’ leaving out Africa’s largest economy.”
The ADC noted that despite Nigeria’s massive consumer base, strategic regional influence, and a thriving diaspora, the United States chose to prioritize nations with significantly smaller economies. According to the party, this reflects how far Nigeria’s international standing has fallen.
Citing President Tinubu’s week-long unexplained visit to St. Lucia, a Caribbean nation with a population smaller than many Nigerian local governments, the ADC stated that Nigeria now finds itself playing in a “small league” instead of asserting leadership across Africa.
The statement further pointed to Nigeria’s diminished influence within ECOWAS, and warned that the country is now being threatened with a 10% tariff by former U.S. President Donald Trump due to its association with BRICS.
“We are not opposed to BRICS,” the party said, “but we are opposed to Nigeria punching below its weight.”
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the ADC lamented the lost opportunity to represent Africa’s interests in global trade especially at a time when Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a Nigerian, heads the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“Had Nigeria shown the leadership the continent expects, we would have been at the table in Washington, pushing the AU’s position and securing meaningful investment for our people,” the statement added.
The ADC concluded by calling on Nigerians to reject what it described as a future of mediocrity being imposed by the APC, urging citizens to demand better governance.
“This is what happens when politics is prioritised over performance, and propaganda over progress. Nigeria is too big, too important, and too proud to be sidelined,” it said.
