Adebayo accuses FG of “big lies” over alleged $50bn foreign investments claims

Adewole Adebayo, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), has dismissed claims that President Bola Tinubu’s foreign engagements have secured $50 billion in investments for Nigeria, questioning both the scale and veracity of the government’s assertions.

Speaking during an interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90MinutesAfrica, Adebayo said the purported inflows would have had visible impacts on Nigeria’s economic performance if they were real.

“The statement that President Tinubu’s frequent foreign trips have attracted $50 billion worth of investments into the economy sounds impressive, but the evidence of it is lacking,” he argued.

The SDP chieftain, a lawyer by profession, stressed that even major global economies such as the United States, China, or Saudi Arabia would consider $50 billion a substantial inflow. “If such an amount had entered Nigeria’s economy, we would have seen effects on the national budget, corporate financing, and overall GDP,” he said.

Adebayo claimed to have examined public and private sector budgets, stock exchange listings, bank recapitalisation exercises, and public-private partnership (PPP) financing structures, but found “nothing close to such money is there.” He insisted that either the funds were yet to materialise or that the government had overstated the figures.

“The government should focus on accounting for the monies we are actually generating in the economy,” he added, accusing the administration of telling “big lies” that go unchallenged. Adebayo also claimed that a large portion of Nigeria’s wealth remains unrecorded, contributing to the nation’s shrinking economy.

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Beyond the investment controversy, Adebayo criticised what he described as an increasing centralisation of power under the Tinubu administration. He alleged that the government is consolidating political, administrative, military, and economic structures, concentrating authority at the top.

“This has gone beyond the five leprosy fingers of Abacha that Bola Ige talked about,” Adebayo said. “It is now a black hole where everything has formed into a singularity, and once you enter, there is no escape.”

He further argued that the government appears to control critical sectors—from the media, civil society, clergy, to the electoral process—limiting access to resources for all but loyalists.

The controversy over investment inflows began when Jumoke Oduwole, minister for industry, trade and investment, claimed on March 4, 2025, that Tinubu’s 30 foreign trips as of December 2024 had attracted $50.8 billion in proposed investments.

She highlighted a $2.5 billion commitment by meat producers during a G20 sideline event in Brazil as part of the inflows, noting that Nigeria’s economy needs around $50 billion to maintain stability in foreign exchange (FX).

In response to criticism, Nentawe Yilwatda, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), reiterated the minister’s claim in a statement issued on February 3, 2026, through his media aide, Abimbola Tooki, describing the president’s foreign trips as strategically and economically motivated rather than ceremonial.

Adebayo’s comments have sparked renewed debate on the transparency and accountability of government-reported foreign investments and their actual impact on Nigeria’s economy.