The Labour Party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his frequent international travels.

Obi expressed his views during an X-space event called ‘ParallelFact’ on Sunday, emphasizing that Nigeria should focus on attracting foreign investors rather than actively pursuing them.

According to Obi, the approach should be akin to honey attracting bees, stating, “Nobody goes around searching for foreign investors. Foreign investors are like bees; when you keep the honey, they will boom towards there. We need to attract foreign investors and not chase after them.”

In response, President Tinubu defended his international engagements during an interview with the Nation Newspaper on the same Sunday, where he received the Man-of-the-Year award. Tinubu highlighted that Foreign Direct Investment is a substantial, long-term financial commitment from serious enterprises and investors.

He emphasized that Nigeria is actively engaging with the global market, both with foreign and domestic investors, and is committed to rebuilding confidence in Nigeria as a safe and accessible investment destination.

“FDI is not ‘chicken change’. FDI is substantial, long-term financial commitments made by serious enterprises and investors. Right now, Nigeria is re-engaging with the global market – both foreign and domestic investors.

We are telling the story of our significant and far-reaching reforms and rebuilding confidence in Nigeria as an accessible and safe investment.

“We are clearly communicating that ‘Nigeria is open for business’ and that the direction of travel is clear and fully committed”, he said.

Tinubu further emphasized the positive outcomes of Nigeria’s engagement with the global market, indicating that efforts to secure foreign direct investment are yielding tangible results.

“We’ve secured a $500 million deal with Germany to fund renewable energy projects, particularly in rural Nigeria”, he stated.

“Our focused efforts to attract European FDI are yielding fruit, notably with the $116 million French investment in the I-DICE program, aimed at creating 65,000 start-ups and 150,000 jobs, particularly empowering women”, President Tinubu added.

Tinubu’s recent international engagements include participation in COP28 in Dubai and attendance at various global events, such as the G20 Summit in India and the UN General Assembly in New York.