Glamtush reports that a former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, on Sunday faulted President Bola Tinubu for directing Qatari investors to report Nigerian officials who demand any form of bribe before allowing them to operate business in the country.
Tinubu made the statement while assuring the international business community that his administration will deal decisively with any corrupt or sharp practice that undermines investor confidence in the economy.
According to him, the country would no longer be held back by past bureaucratic bottlenecks and corruption that stifled the ease of doing business.
Reacting to his utterances, Chidoka said he was embarrassed that Tinubu chose to toe the path of his predecessor by de-marketing the country.
Chidoka said the statement was uncalled for as it demarkets Nigeria in the eyes of investors.
The chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) expressed his concerns when he featured as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
He said, “It was an unfortunate statement. I was shocked and embarrassed that he was continuing Buhari’s type of de-marketing of Nigeria.
“There are many Nigerians who will not ask for a bribe or disturb people. The people who will probably ask you for a bribe are in the minority. The job of the President is to sell Nigeria, to be the chief spokesperson and chief salesperson of Nigeria.
“I think this is the lacuna that comes when there is a poor briefing from the agencies of government. I don’t really blame the President. I blame the inability of people like the Minister of Information and Foreign Affairs for the theme of the government.
“The government has to have a theme like we are pro-investment, we want to attract foreign exchange. Our mission is to deodorise Nigeria, to tell a good story about Nigeria, to tell Africa’s rising narrative and to say that this change of government is a new mandate that tells you how Nigeria has been able to sustain democracy for 24 going to 25 years now.
“So the story about Nigeria is not a story of bribery and corruption. And we don’t want a President who people are calling from Qatar to report a bribe. They should report them to the police, EFCC, ICPC or any other office of government that deals with that.”
Continuing, Chidoka urged Tinubu to borrow a leaf from other presidents in the world, who despite knowing about the dirty dealings of companies and investors in their country, hardly come to the media to denigrate their society.
He cited the alleged bribery case of Agip, an Italian automotive gasoline, diesel, LPG, lubricants, fuel oil, and bitumen retailer, as an example.
According to him, the President will be doing the country a disservice if he continues to give foreign investors the wrong notion to the Nigerian people.
“I do not think that his contemporaries and other countries are busy looking for bribe-takers. Did you hear the president of Italy comment about the Agip bribery case in Nigeria? It is not the business of the government of Italy nor should it be the business of Nigeria. The people who are caught doing it should be punished. There should be processes for punishing people.
“No foreign investor will be happy to know that he needs to talk to the President to be able to reverse an issue of corruption or bribery. Nobody in the world would like to do that. Have you heard from any President from the country of Halliburton coming out to speak about Halliburton or the Enron cases? No, the American people have passed a law and said these are things we should stop companies from doing going forward.
“Countries and presidents take action to systematically solve the problem, not whistleblowing and catching thieves. It is not good optics for Nigeria. I hope that in the future, he will not say this again. He should just find a way to reverse himself and say ‘I just want to show you that we are on top of the situation.’ Nigerian banks are operating around the world. Nigerian banks are operating in the US and also have banking licences in the UK. Why are you going to make people believe that Nigerians are bribe-takers?” he queried.
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