Wednesday July 09, 2025
By TheNewsDESK |
www.thenewsdesk.ng
African Democratic Congress, ADC, has said Nigeria was not invited to White House trade talks because of President Bola Tinubu’s economic failure, stressing that under the All Progressives Congress, APC, leadership, the country has gone from leading the continent to being left out entirely.
ADC made the assertion in a statement by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi.
That was as the party’s Interim National Chairman, Senator David Mark, assured that under his leadership, ADC would be “absolutely transparent”.
Similarly, former Director General of All Progressives Congress Governors’ Forum, and one of the arrowheads of the ADC coalition, Mallam Salihu Lukman, said the structure of the party would not be handed over to any of its members contesting the presidential ticket in 2027.
But the federal government dismissed the individuals behind the coalition against the re-election of Tinubu as elements averse to the sustained focus on the economic progress the country was recording.
APC also said there was no reason for Tinubu or the ruling party to expend valuable time and energy trying to sow confusion within ADC that was already mortally wounded by confusion delivered by its invaders.
The United States government planned to host the presidents of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal for high-level commercial talks at the White House on Wednesday, without extending the invitation to Nigeria.
In a statement by ADC’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, the party emphasisedthat Nigeria’s exclusion from such high-level economic dialogue was a damning international indictment of the Tinubu administration and its sustained economic mismanagement, weak and incoherent diplomacy, and inability to project Nigeria’s strategic importance on the global stage.
According to ADC, “For years, African thought leaders have argued that it was about time that the Western world started to engage with African countries as trade partners rather than as hapless recipients of aid. Finally, an American President has emerged who is cutting aid and promoting trade. But Nigeria is not invited to the table.
“According to the Americans, the three-day meeting, which starts on Wednesday, is convened to explore commercial opportunities that could benefit both American companies and African partners. They said they have invited countries, who have demonstrated ‘the ability, and willingness, to help itself.
“What this means in plain language is that under President Tinubu, Nigeria is no longer taken seriously. Although we are Africa’s largest economy, with the largest consumer market and Africa’s most influential diaspora, the United States chose to bypass us in favour of nations whose combined GDP is only a fraction of ours.
“With this snub, what the Americans are telling us is that size means nothing without leadership and a demonstrable commitment to efficiency, to transparency and to accountability.”
The statement added, “Only a few years ago, it would have been unthinkable that such meeting would hold without Nigeria. This only shows how low this administration has brought our country in the estimation of the world.
“To add insult onto injury, Nigeria is now being threatened by President Trump with a 10 per cent tariff because of our association with BRICS, which started in January 2025. The ADC is not opposed to BRICS, but we are opposed to Nigeria punching below its weight by playing in the small league.”
