The All Progressives Congress has stated that Nigeria remains the biggest economy on the African continent and an investment destination of choice in its response to opposition, Peoples Democratic Party, on the basis of Twitter locating its Africa headquarters in Ghana.

The Caretaker/Extra-Ordinary Convention Planning Committee of the APC, in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday, argued that there is no issue in Twitter ignoring Nigeria, noting that it is a private company that maintains an exclusive right to locate its business anywhere.

The statement issued by the CECPC National Secretary, Senator John Akpanudoedehe, was titled ‘APC: Nigeria as Africa’s biggest economy, remains a top investment destination.’

The statement read:
“Flowing from a statement by the Peoples Democratic Party, our response to Twitter’s decision to cite its African operations in Ghana is simple. The decision or rationale of private concerns, particularly businesses on where to cite their operations are their exclusive preserve. It is a no issue!

“However, for the PDP that mocks the country and its citizens over what it celebrates as missed ‘business prospects’, such political party does not mean well for the country and should definitely not be considered as a governance option. It is exhausting and depressing highlighting PDP’s ignominious past. The APC will rather consolidate and focus on how Nigeria is finally getting it right under President Muhammadu Buhari.

“How come what the PDP terms the present ‘misrule’ did not stop multinational technology companies, Facebook and Google, from opening offices in Nigeria? Neither did it stop the world’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and multinational food manufacturing giants, Kellogg’s, from establishing their multi-billion naira brewery and factory (respectively) in Nigeria.”

The ruling party further stated that despite the uncertainties over the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigeria earned $2.6bn of the global volume of Foreign Direct Investment, surpassing a major competition, South Africa ($2.5bn), according to the latest 2020 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s Investment Trends Monitor.

APC further said, “Nigeria’s current status as Africa’s largest economy was achieved under the President Buhari-led APC administration and our industrious citizens are the ultimate beneficiaries.

“Nigeria is doing a lot through the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, which was set up by this administration to remove bureaucratic constraints to doing business in Nigeria, and the ongoing implementation of Economic Recovery and Growth Plan. Nigeria is on the right trajectory and the PDP cannot wish away these solid achievements.

“Finally, we use this opportunity to remind Twitter and other frontline social media platforms of their important responsibilities to curb fake news, disinformation and hate speech. In the last US presidential election, the proactive roles played by social media operators in checking fake news and divisive rhetoric is a solid pointer to how proper social media usage ultimately benefits society. We expect no less in Nigeria from social media operators.”

The PDP had on Wednesday lamented the alleged unabating misrule of the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and the APC.

The opposition party had said Buhari’s incompetence pushed Twitter to site its African headquarters in Ghana despite the fact that Nigeria has more twitter traffic and more business prospects.

The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said, “Twitter’s preference for Ghana over Nigeria was occasioned by inconsistent economic policies, obnoxious suppression of free speech, stifling of online freedom and open internet by the Buhari administration and the APC.”

The statement read in part, “This is in addition to infrastructural decay, massive corruption and manifest failure of the Buhari Presidency and the APC to address the escalated insecurity brought upon our nation under their incompetent watch.

“Indeed, the decision by Twitter to by-pass Nigeria to locate its African operational base in Ghana is another sad commentary of how our nation, which was hitherto a global investment hub under the PDP, has now been so degraded in global economic competitiveness under the APC.

“Nigerians were heavily despaired on Monday when the founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, announced that his company will be setting up its headquarters on the continent in Ghana despite Nigeria’s domineering Twitter traffic in the sub region.”